Long Way From Home
by Silver Supa
Summary: The plan (well, Akko's plan at least) is a romantic vacation away from Luna Nova with Diana. But good intentions or not, as what should've been a simple expedition takes an unexpected turn, Akko finds herself out of her depth in more ways than one. Especially as it becomes more and more clear the three of them are a long way from home.
1. Happy Landings

The official reason the three of them were flying to Guatemala was for Diana's senior thesis. Ever the overachiever, Diana wanted to come here to study the ancient ruins and write some academic paper on Central American witchcraft in the 8th and 9th centuries for one of her more advanced magic classes. Akko didn't pretend to understand what any of that meant.

For Akko, the _actual_ reason she was flying to Guatemala with Diana was both the allure of a vacation and the opportunity to get closer to her girlfriend. They hadn't been dating terribly long, but Diana was always more closed-off when it came to affection, and what better way to change that annoying little detail than some quality time away from Luna Nova?

She'd let Diana work, sure, but there was so much fun to be had while they were here in the meantime. Huge rainforests to explore, plenty of sunshine to relax in, and not to mention tons of new food to try. So when Diana had told her the plan, Akko jumped at the chance to join her. It didn't even take too much to convince Diana to let her come along for this expedition.

Though it helped that Akko was much better friends with Andrew Hanbridge than most, whose family was one that had access to private jets. Certainly much more convenient than Ley Lines or flying a broom across the Atlantic.

And what a swanky little plane it was. Hardwood fold-out tables built right into the wall, swiveling seats that were more like sofa chairs than the plastic things on commercial flights, more than enough legroom for Akko to stretch out and not even come close to Andrew's seat from across the table. And accordingly, Andrew's father used to use this thing to fly with foreign dignitaries, meaning Akko was sitting in the same spot where some fancy big shots put their butts, which was a deceptively ego-inflating feeling.

From next to her in the cabin, Diana nudged her without looking up from her book. "I understand you're excited, but please stop bouncing your leg. It makes it difficult to read."

"How can you _not_ be excited?" Akko asked, not bothering to stop her leg bouncing. "I've never been to either of the Americas! It'll be super fun to get to see a whole new part of the world, even just for a few days!"

"I didn't say I _wasn't_ , for the record." Diana said, a light smile decorating her face. "I've studied magic in other cultures before, but this will be the first time I've done it firsthand. Witchcraft in South America can be quite different from the other hemisphere."

Andrew, who had been sipping some fruity drink Akko didn't know the name of, looked back up to join the conversation. "Is that so? I can still barely understand how you practice it at Luna Nova to be honest. My only real exposure is you two, and Akko's explanations can be…"

Diana snapped her book closed. "Exuberant?"

Andrew shrugged. "Not the word I was looking for, but accurate."

Ignoring the vaguely annoyed look Akko was sending her, Diana began to explain. "From my understanding, there's much less of a concentrated magic population than in other parts of the world. There's only one or two formal magic academies in the entire region, and most magic is practiced by the indigenous people in smaller towns. Some attribute it to traditionalism, while others claim it's because of colonia-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, all that stuff's fine." Akko cut her off. "But think about the cool stuff we'll be able to see!Do you think we'll be able to see the ocean? I haven't been to the ocean in for _ever_. Think we'll have time to find a beach or something?"

Diana did not look even half as enthusiastic as her. "Akko, you realize this isn't a vacation, right? We're not here to sightsee. There's a considerable amount riding on this thesis paper, and I have a lot of work to do."

"What?" Akko deflated. "But you promised we'd do fun stuff while we're here!"

"I _said_ if there was time, we will." Diana frowned. "But this research takes priority. Very few people in the magic community have had the chance to see these ruins yet. It took a lot of time and networking to get here, and I don't intend to waste it."

"Aw, come on." Akko leaned over, resting her hand on top of Diana's on the arm rest. "Yeah, you can do all your work, but don't you at least wanna explore around a _little_ before you do all that stuff?"

"Akko…"

"I'm just saying, we've been sitting in here for hours! Wouldn't it be nice to just go into some town, get something fun to eat, and just see all the new sights together…?" Akko batted her lashes. Which was excessive, on top of her handholding and low tone of voice, but considering the color spreading across Diana's cheeks, it was effective.

"W-well…" For a moment, Diana genuinely considered the idea. But then her eyes flicked over to Andrew, still seated across from them, and she quickly composed herself. "…If there's time." Diana retracted her hand and went right back to her book, shutting down any further argument.

Andrew took a bored sip of his drink. "Why do you look at _me?_ She's your girlfriend. I don't really care what you two do."

Diana hid her grimace behind her book. "…Why are you even here, Andrew?"

"It's my family's plane." He shrugged, absent-mindedly. "Besides, if you're going to ask for a ride, I might as well take a few days' vacation while I'm at it."

"I'm sure your life must be very stressful." Diana said as she flipped a page.

"Believe it or not, some of us dislike spending every waking hour working away." Andrew rolled his shoulders. "Between my own studies and everything I must do to succeed my father, I'd enjoy some time away from it all."

Diana hummed. "The poor life of a millionaire with, as of yet, no day job."

"I resent that." Andrew scoffed. "Considering the net worth of the Hanbridge estate, I'd prefer the poor life of a _billionaire_ with no day job, thank you very much."

And then there was Akko Kagari, who had about 14 dollars, 36 cents and one stick of cherry gum in her pocket.

She shrunk back in her seat, feeling somewhat…small. Here she was, in a private jet, with two people who lived in mansions and talked with important people who were in charge of important things, on her way to a country she wasn't sure she could ever afford to go to on her own. And all that was cool, but she couldn't help but feel like the odd one out.

After all, even Diana and Andrew's casual clothes looked like they were ready to get their pictures taken. Nice button-up shirts with the sleeves neatly rolled up, pressed jeans and slacks respectively. And Diana looked really sharp in blue plaid. Meanwhile, Akko was in shorts and a Shiny Chariot t-shirt that may or may not be a bootleg.

And as if to make the point even clearer, an older man in a finely pressed suit walked into the cabin from the cockpit, hands folded neatly behind his back as he blatantly deferred to Andrew. "We'll be arriving at the airstrip near Flores momentarily, Mr. Hanbridge. Please prepare for landing."

Andrew nodded. "Thank you, Bruce."

Diana snapped her book closed once more. "Have you heard from Dr. Santillo yet?"

"Last I have heard, he will be meeting with you three at the airstrip, Miss." Bruce said, before turning to his charge. "Will there be anything else, Mr. Hanbridge?"

"No, that will be all. Thank you again."

Bruce gathered the dishes from the table before folding it back into the wall and returning to the cabin, with another servile bow towards Andrew.

Stuff like that always got to Akko about him and Diana. Butlers and maids and servants and people who just…worked for them like that. Sure, for a while it'd be nice having someone waiting on you, but it had to get weird eventually, didn't it? Paying someone to do all those menial tasks for you and then just stand there until you dismiss them? That was just how Andrew and Diana grew up. But as for Akko, she was pretty sure it'd get awkward if it was her.

But as for Akko again, that was why she wanted a vacation with Diana in the first place. She really wanted to bridge that gap. Diana was always so…closed-off. If she wasn't overclocking herself with mountains of duties and studies, she still always seemed too focused on _something_ to be that openly affectionate. Or that open with relationships in general.

She never doubted Diana cared, but still. Even after a few months of dating, Akko never felt like the two of them were on the same wavelength quite yet, especially with how much bigger Diana's life could get compared to hers. So she wanted to go somewhere neutral, away from Luna Nova and the Cavendish manor and just be together without any baggage or worries.

And maybe it was a bit selfish of her to want to turn Diana's big trip into that, but Akko was really starting to wonder where exactly they stood with one another. She was generally optimistic. And she was pretty sure if they could have some time alone they could fix all these little issues.

But it was hard sometimes, not to feel like she was completely out of her league here.

* * *

Akko at least felt a bit better when they finally touched down. Swanky jet or no, sitting in the same chair for so many hours got old fast. As soon as Bruce opened the hatch, she was out of her seat, out the door, and taking in the fresh air.

It was a sunny day in Guatemala. A little warmer than what she was used to, but not unbearably so. A few kilometers out from the small airstrip, she could see a city built among the rolling green hills. And outside the city were trees as far as she could see and a huge body of water, a sea of green and blue blanketing the area, dwarfing civilization entirey.

"Is that the ocean over there? It looks really-! Oh, wait, I think that's a big lake. But hey, Diana look! A lake!"

Diana took her bag from Bruce and slung it over her shoulder, before joining Akko on solid ground. "Yes, I suppose it is."

But before Akko could say anything else, Diana's attention was taken by a stranger at the entrance to the airstrip. He was a portly man of about middle-age, with dark, sun-kissed skin and a short crop of black hair on his head. He was actually wearing a coat and tie, despite the heat. Though, given he likely lived in this heat every day, he didn't seem to pay it much mind.

Diana walked up to the man and held out her hand respectfully. "Dr. Santillo, correct? It's nice to meet you in person."

The man, Dr. Santillo, smiled and took Diana's hand with a quick, firm, shake. "Likewise." He said, rather benignly. "Believe it or not, I was actually impressed when you first contacted me. You seem to have done a bit of homework on the local area already. That's always a bit…refreshing to me."

"Naturally." Diana nodded. "I've been preparing for this thesis for some time now. I hope to make the most of my stay while I'm here."

The doctor hummed. "So I understand. Though I haven't been introduced to your companions." He turned to greet Andrew and Akko. "Darío Santillo, pleasure to meet you all. I'm an alumni of Sol Azul Magic Academy up north in Catemaco. PhD in shamanistic studies, amateur archeologist, won't bore you with the other details."

"Allow me to introduce us all then." Diana said, gesturing towards Andrew. "This is my acquaintance, Andrew Hanbridge. He's a student of Appleton Academy."

Andrew shook the doctor's hand politely. "Just Andrew's fine." He introduced himself. "I'm only here to take a breather from my own work."

Darío nodded simply. "Hmm."

Diana then gestured towards Akko, who stood up straighter. "And this is…"

Akko held out a hand, a proud expression creeping up her cheeks. Been a while since Diana introduced her to someone. What would she say? Girlfriend? Partner? Something nice like that?

"…my schoolmate, Akko Kagari."

And then Akko's mood dropped like a rock. That was just unfair. They've been dating for months and _schoolmate_ is what she gets? And yeah, fine. Logically she knew Diana wasn't one to readily share details about her personal life, but couldn't she have at least gotten 'best friend'?

Despite her sudden sullenness, she looked up to see Darío enthusiastically shaking her hand. "Ah, Akko. Now that I think about it, I've heard a bit about you!"

"I…wait." Akko blinked. "Me? Like, _me_ me?"

Darío chuckled. "Of course. Word travels fast in magic circles, especially when you broadcast yourself across the globe like that. Working class magician, besting the odds in a foreign school. It's all a bit inspiring, really."

Akko couldn't help but puff out her chest. "Well! I wouldn't go as far as to say inspiring, but if you want to…!" The aspiring performer in her certainly didn't mind the praise. "I'm just here to support my _best friend_ , Diana, after all!"

Diana didn't react outside of smiling just a little wider. Akko wasn't sure if that was the reaction she was hoping for or not.

Darío's face, however, flattened to a stony expression. "Yes. Well, about that…" He turned to Diana, somewhat grimly. "Now I know I already told you in the emails, but I need to warn you again. Even if you _are_ as prestigious as a witch as you say, there some very dangerous wild animals in that area. You're putting yourself in very real risk going out there."

Diana just waved her hand. "Thank you, but as I said before, I'm aware of the risk." As if to punctuate herself, she reached into her bag and pulled out her wand. "I'm more than capable of keeping a few territorial animals at arm's length. There's no need for concern."

"Just make sure you're not getting _too_ overconfident there." Darío narrowed his eyes. "The creatures here are going to be much different than the ones you deal with at your big, fancy academy over there. You can't guarantee your magic is prepared to deal with them. My grandfather rediscovered these ruins, and I don't want to see anyone get needlessly hurt exploring my family's grounds."

Before Diana could retort, Akko jumped in. "Wait, really?" She asked. "Your family actually owns all these old witchy ruins? How does that work?"

Darío stared at her for a long, uncomfortable moment, an inscrutable look on his face.

"…No, the government owns the land." He shook his head. "My family only maintains it for them. They're always encouraging explorers and archeologists to assess the place, trying to figure out what to do with it in the future."

"Oh, um. Sorry? Didn't know all that…" Akko chuckled. "…What would they end up doing with the ruins then?"

Darío smiled, as if the answer made no difference to him whatsoever. "Once they figure it's safe, turn it into another tourist trap I'm sure. More ruins to take pictures of would certainly bring in more foreign money." He was smiling, but that inscrutable look hadn't exactly left his face. Akko really wasn't sure what she said wrong.

Diana cleared her throat. "Tell me something, Dr. Santillo. You said these ruins appear to be of Mayan origin, correct?"

Darío tapped his chin. "There in the same region, at least." He mused. "Though the architecture is different from most Mayan structures, in a few interesting ways."

"Different as in they were built by a sect of Mayan witches, or different as in an entirely different civilization existing alongside them?"

"Ah. That's difficult to say right now, really. I've heard a few theories from the non-magic archeologists who've studied the place…"

Diana and Darío walked ahead, talking about the specific mythology of the ruins and the specific dates of their construction and their specific ties to the local magic culture and all sorts of specific things about specific topics that went well above Akko's head. There was definitely nowhere in the conversation she could hope to contribute. And then from behind them, Andrew was exchanging a few final words with Bruce, a man who worked for his family, about what to do with the jet, a thing his family just owned.

Yeah. Out of the four of them, Akko _really_ didn't belong here at all.

She trailed behind silently, hands in her pockets. She had to figure out a way she could actually _do_ something to help Diana, but she just couldn't figure out what. Before she could get too far into her mood, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Andrew. "Don't feel too bad about Diana blowing you off." He smiled. "I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for you two to relax and enjoy yourselves once we all get settled in."

"I know, I know." Akko sighed. "But it's just that she's been working so hard and trying to get into all these advanced magic classes after graduation and everything. I wanna make sure she actually does something fun that's _not_ super complicated work."

"Try to cut her some slack, Akko." Andrew said, urging her forward to catch up with the others. "This trip is clearly something important to her. And you're the one who's always telling us to follow our dreams."

"I'm not saying she shouldn't!" Akko argued. "I just wanna have a good time with her while we're here, and I just don't want her to get so overworked she ignores everything again." Bitterly, she added, "Besides, it'd be nice to be her _girlfriend_ instead of her schoolmate for once…"

Andrew thought for a moment. "Tell you what. If I notice her getting too caught up in her studies, I'll be sure to pester her until she heads your direction. That way she can get her research done, and you can have your time together. Everybody wins, right?"

Akko looked up with a small smile. "You'd do that for me, Andrew?"

"Of course." He shrugged. "If you ended up having a bad time, you'd end up venting to _me_ , and I just don't have the patience for that right now. I _am_ on vacation, after all."

He smirked as Akko elbowed him. "Spoiled billionaire." She teased.

"I do try." Andrew raised a brow. "Now, really. We should hurry and catch up with the others. I'd like to stop lugging these bags around."

He nodded his head towards his right hand, where he was carrying both his own bag and Akko's suitcase. With a sheepish chuckle, Akko took it from him. Or at least attempted to, given the bag's girth and the boy's height compared to her. She ended up grabbing it at a bad angle, losing her footing under the bag's weight.

As her back hit the pavement, Andrew was at least quick enough to catch her bag with his free hand before it landed on top of her.

Diana made her way over and bent down to her side. "Are you alright, Akko?"

"Yeah, I think so." Akko dusted off her knees. "Just a little bump, I guess."

"Good." Diana smiled. "Please try to be careful. I don't remember which of our bags the first aid kit is in."

"Isn't your whole thing healing magic? Or-?" Akko's eyes narrowed. "Wait. Please don't tell me you packed a whole first aid kit because of me."

Diana blinked at her. "…I won't."

And then she stood up and walked right back to Darío without another word. Akko had half a mind to say something back, only to realize any reason Diana could give was pretty easily justified by the fact Akko just fell down and embarrassed herself. She wasn't sure if she was touched or offended that Diana thought of that. Leaning towards offended. Akko grumbled, snatching her suitcase back from Andrew, setting it down right, and trailing behind the others.

Thus far, this was much less romantic than her initial plan. And wasn't that just the story of her life?

* * *

 _A.N. Went through a minor writing block, and I really wanted to sit down and work on something, but I just couldn't find the inspiration. Then I realized, you know who I miss writing? Akko's good bro Andrew, recovering snob and the world's most exasperated wingman. And then somehow, that led to a desire to play around with the idea of how LWA's witchcraft exists outside of Europe, and somehow, that led to this._

 _As for doc Santillo, I try to be careful with OCs in fanfics, and only do them when it can draw attention to specific qualities of the characters you do care about. And there is a minor timeskip here compared to the series, so everyone's a wee bit older. I like to think the later chapters of this will go to unexpected places, but you'll have to be the one to tell me if it works or not. Hope you'll stick around for it!_


	2. Sunset

The doctor, it seemed, liked his privacy.

It was a fairly long drive from the airstrip to his home where they'd be staying, and as the three of them rode along in his car, Akko's eyes drifted out the window and noted how much more rural the landscape became. Apartments and hotels meant for tourists gradually were replaced with small homes and buildings of rougher quality, and the paved cobblestone road eventually turned into gravel as they went farther and farther past the outskirts of civilization.

Ahead of them, however, the trees grew taller and taller, and packed together much more densely. He lived fairly close to the witch ruins Diana was so excited to see, practically as close to the rainforest as he was actually allowed to. He would've had to, after all, given he was tasked with maintaining the place and keeping it safe, but Akko couldn't help but find the idea of living so far away from everyone rather lonely.

But despite the isolation, the _size_ of Darío's home filled Akko with a small sense of relief. A nice, normal, suburban style home. Not even two-stories. It was reassuring to know she was not the only person in the car who didn't live in a mansion.

Akko smiled at him as she left the car. "I like your house."

Darío chuckled. "It's something my grandfather built. He was a true archeologist, that one." The doctor craned his arm out, pointing to a road a few kilometers out. "That stretch of highway over there goes to Tikal. He must've hiked that entire highway a hundred times, always searching for something new."

Andrew retrieved his bag from the trunk. "I suppose he must've been quite beside himself when he discovered ones for himself."

Darío sighed wistfully. "Oh, he was, alright. I remember watching him as a kid, when he first discovered them. He poured over the ruins day in and day out, like a man possessed. I jumped at the chance to get this house from him when he passed. He was my hero as a kid, in a way."

His expression, however, flattened. "But I…guess it sounds sort of silly to you, to base your whole career off of a childhood idol, huh?"

Akko glanced down at the graphic on her t-shirt, of the redheaded witch holding what was then her bronze staff. "No, I don't think so, at least."

He had two guestrooms for them to stay in during their trip. He insisted Andrew take one to himself while the girls bunk together, in order to avoid any 'funny business.' None of the three of them made mention of the irony, least of all Akko.

And after unpacking their things, it was another short hike into the forest. Akko couldn't help but marvel at all the massive plants. The foliage above their heads was thick, casting green shadows all around. Exploring some of Guatemala's tropics was one of the things she had been excited to come her to do. Plus, it was starting to get a bit windy, which seemed to deter off most of the bugs.

And then they finally came to a small clearing of trees, and Darío gestured to the giant structure in the center. At first glance, it appeared to nothing more than a boulder. It was enormous, almost as tall as the tropical trees surrounding it, but a nondescript boulder nonetheless. But the south side of the rock had somehow been broken open, revealing the entire boulder to be hollow. Like a giant eggshell stuffed into the ground.

And inside were the infamous ruins, made of a darker color of stone and more obviously shaped by hand. It was a small…platform of sorts. There were a few obelisks inside, with stylized faces etched into the stone, surrounded by almost geometric patterns. There were a few steps leading up to some sort of raised block, with a sort of mural carved into the front.

On one side of the carving was a single figure, with some sort of lion or panther by its side. The figure looked to be waving its hand through the air. And on the other side of the carving was some sort of army, cowering before the figure's gesture.

Akko wasn't sure what to make of all of it. She glanced over to gauge the others' reactions. Diana was leaning in, already inspecting some of the mural. Darío just scratched his nose, a small smile on his cheeks. Even if he was an amateur archeologist, he must've seen this place too many times to really get visibly excited about it anymore.

But Andrew looked a bit…unnerved, oddly enough. His arms were crossed, and his expression directed at the ruins reminded Akko of the way most people looked at a dentist's chair. Like all being near it would lead to was a thoroughly unpleasant experience. "So…what's with the shell?"

"It's believed to be some sort of petrification." Diana explained. "It seems like the witches who built them deliberately hid them. If you look at the shell, it's designed to completely encase the structure without actually touching or damaging it."

"I suppose that explains how they managed to stay undiscovered for so long…" Andrew muttered. "What broke the rock open?"

Darío's smile widened. "Lightning strike. My grandfather left a shovel out here during a storm, and it blew the thing wide open. We're just lucky he left it leaning on this side of the rock, otherwise the ruins might've been seriously damaged."

"…Hmm." Andrew pursed his lips indifferently. "Well then. Maybe we should…head back. I don't have much interest in this field. No offense."

Akko nodded vigorously. "Yeah, maybe we could all get something to eat. I bet they have some _great_ food in this country! You two should come with!"

"You two can go ahead." Diana waved them off. "Dr. Santillo's going to show me the layout of this place, so I suppose I'll see you two later tonight."

"But…" Akko racked her brain for something to say. "You don't even wanna get a _snack_ or something to bring along?"

Diana shook her head. "I had enough on the plane, thank you."

Darío crossed his arms. "It might not be a bad idea to go get some food you know. I wouldn't want you bringing any snacks out here. No idea what kind of creatures you might attract…"

"Right." Diana said, adjusting her bag around her shoulder. "I believe I'll be just fine. I'd rather just get to work as soon as possible."

Darío shrugged, before gesturing her over to begin the more in-depth tour of the place. Andrew turned on his heels and began walking back to the house. Akko ended up having to follow the latter, unable to think of anything to say. Except for one fragment of a sentence she muttered under her breath.

"…stupid rock."

* * *

Akko ended up having to spend most of the rest of the day inside. It was too far for her to want to walk back to the city, and too humid out for her to want to play outside. How Diana was surviving in jeans was beyond her.

So now she was laying across an old couch in the living room, grumbling to herself. "Man, this stinks. Stinks, stinks, stinks!"

Andrew was leaning against the wall, watching her pout on the couch. "I hardly think I'm _that_ bad of company."

"No, it's not you!" Akko threw up her hands. "I just can't believe I'm competing for her with a rock. And _losing!_ "

"It _was_ a very…notable rock."

"Yeah, it's also like a billion years old!" Akko sat up just enough for him to see her glare.

"It's also the subject of her thesis paper, which, I don't know if you ever wrote one of those, is a huge pain in the backside. I can hardly blame her for being distracted."

"Big rock…" Akko growled. "You'd think a girl who reads as many romance books as her would be-" She froze, before whipping over to face the boy. "O-oh shoot! Andrew, forget I said that!"

He arched a brow. "Romance novels…?"

She frantically waved her hands. "Pretend you don't know that! Diana doesn't even know that _I_ know that! If she finds out I spilled the beans to someone, she'll literally kill me!"

Andrew looked like he was trying to stifle a laugh. Not particularly hard, but the effort was clearly there. "I'm not sure why I'm even surprised."

"You can't say anything!" Akko all but begged him. "I just…maybe accidentally poked around her room once. And it wasn't even my fault! She puts book covers over the real covers so you can't tell what she's reading! I didn't know what it was at first!"

"Really…?" Andrew asked, with considerable interest. "How bad _are_ these books?"

Akko groaned, burying her face in her hands. "…Man, no wonder I'm losing to a billion year old rock."

Andrew made a face at the mention of Diana's new favorite thing, and quietly sat down on the couch next to the other girl. "…Hey, Akko. Speaking of that…" He tapped his chin. "Did those ruins give off a…weird vibe to you?"

"I don't think so?" She looked back up, cocking her head. "Weird how?"

Andrew's face crinkled, struggling to articulate the right way to express it. "I mean, weird like…" He waved his hand, as if groping for the word in the air in front of him. "Like…I'm not sure how to explain it, other than…"

"Than…?"

After a moment of silent thought, Andrew sighed. "…I…don't know. Perhaps I'm just…overthinking it. I suppose staring at the relics of some lost civilization has just got me…thinking about the person I used to be."

Akko sat up fully, furrowing her brows. "What's that supposed to mean?" She studied the almost melancholic expression on her friend's face. "…you feeling okay, Andrew?"

"I…" Andrew swallowed. "The truth is…meeting Diana and you really opened my eyes to how close-minded I was. I dismissed magic and witches as being worthless for so long, and then I met you. And you just blabbered on and on about dreams and you insisted on acting as though you were my friend."

"I don't _blabber!_ " Akko crossed her arms. "And we _are_ friends, aren't we?"

"We are, exactly." Andrew nodded. "But when you _did_ become my friend…suddenly I realized how much bigger the world is than I thought. And if I spent this long just echoing my father's opinions about witchcraft only to be proven wrong, and now I find myself actually _friends_ with witches, what else could I be wrong about? Does that make sense?"

All Akko could really do was nod, and Andrew took it as a sign to continue.

"I want to give back to you and Diana for all of that, yes, but maybe the biggest reason I wanted to come along for this trip is…I realized I've been living in a bubble. Now that I poked my head out, I want to see more of the world for what it is. Be more of a part of it."

"You don't feel bad about all that stuff, do you?"

"Maybe a little." Andrew scratched the back of his neck. "I suppose it's more…fear of going back into that bubble. I joke about being a flippant rich boy, but sometimes I wonder if I can really change from that person I used to be..."

Akko reached up to set a hand on his shoulder, and Andrew suddenly jumped, a sharp gasp escaping his throat. As if he had been so distracted by the thoughts he only just become aware of where he was and who he was talking to.

"…Uh. Sorry. I didn't mean to…" He cleared his throat. "…I'm _really_ not sure where all that came from. S-sorry for unloading all of that on you."

"Hey, it's no big deal." Akko smiled. "That's what I've been telling you since we've met. You shouldn't be afraid to follow your own dreams and be true to yourself! And besides you and your dad both changed!" But her smile quickly drained. "…w-well, you have. Your dad seems nicer to me now, but he's kinda…"

"You don't have to say it." Andrew smirked mirthlessly. "I live with the man. I know what he's like."

Akko scratched the side of her head. "I…guess I'm kinda not surprised. Sometimes it feels like I get that a lot." She bit her lip. "…Anna once said to me that she 'tolerates my continued presence in the Cavendish Manor,' which I _think_ is a compliment? And Diana's aunt Daryl is way less trying-to-kill-me-ish whenever I talk to her lately, which is good. But I dunno if either of them really like me much either."

Andrew's eyes cast downward. "…I suppose it's easy to get set in your ways when you're in those positions of power. Higher up the ladder you go, the harder it can get to remember that the people below you are still people." He set a hand on her shoulder. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry on my father's behalf. And you know…everything else."

"Nah, you don't need to say sorry." Akko shook her head. "You already said you felt bad, and even if you didn't, you've been a way nicer person than when we first met. That's good enough for me!"

"If you say so." Andrew chuckled, smiling much more genuinely than his usual indifferent exterior. "…Though, erm, don't tell Diana I said any of that. I wouldn't want her to get a swollen head because she thinks you two changed me."

Akko crossed her arms. "I don't get why the two of you don't seem to like each other much. I mean, you two have a lot in common!"

Andrew bristled. "Don't be ridiculous."

Akko thought for a moment, then held out her hand. "I won't tell her about all that personal stuff you said if _you_ forget that I mentioned her reading habits."

"Deal." Andrew punctuated his smirk with a firm handshake.

Akko still didn't really get what brought out all these sudden doubts in the boy, but if he was feeling happier, and especially if he was feeling happier because _she_ helped him, then Akko was more than happy too. As far as she was concerned, any smiles she could bring in the world were good.

Even if it wasn't as grandiose as maintaining ruins or reviving a prestigious family name.

Andrew glanced out the window, scratching his chin. Now that he was in a better mood, it seemed like more optimistic thoughts were filling his head.

He suddenly sat up from the couch. "…you know, I think I'd like to go see if I can't catch a cab into town or something."

Akko deflated. "Wait, you're going somewhere too…?"

Andrew nodded. "My Spanish is a little rusty, but…I'd like to go see if I can't experience some of the local nightlife. It might be nice to see how people live on this side of the world. I at least want to try a few of the local drinks."

Before Akko could protest, Andrew was out the door, walking the long walk back to town, leaving Akko all alone in the house. She wasn't sure why that fact bugged her so much right now.

She looked out the window, towards the city in the distance. The sun was setting now, casting the town in a golden glow. It made her want to be out there exploring with Diana even _more_. But here she was, stuck inside while Diana was out doing big important stuff.

…No, Akko couldn't abide by this. She was never one to wait around for her happiness. If she couldn't spend time with Diana in town, she'd just spend time with Diana on _her_ terms. She grabbed her shoes and set out the door, towards the ruins, hoping to get there before it was too dark.

* * *

She was not entirely successful. When Akko finally arrived back at the ruins, the sun had gotten low in the sky, and with the tree branches above, none of the dying light could really reach the ground.

She found Diana sitting on a large stump, writing quick, yet somehow perfectly legible, notes in a thick notebook on her lap. She had her bag next to her, with a small lantern balanced right on top of it. The only time she looked up was to glance at the mural within the ruins. On the complete other side of the giant rock well out of her view, Darío was sitting in a folding chair, lazily digging through a backpack.

He gave Akko a questioning look as she entered the clearing. Akko waved. He did not wave back, so Akko instead continued over to the stump to either bother Diana or give her a helping hand. Whichever came first, really.

Diana heard footsteps, and set down her pencil. "Oh, Dr. Santillo. Did you find that Yucatec dictionary yet?" She glanced up, and her content expression was replaced with one of surprise. "Akko? What are you doing here?"

Akko flopped down next to her on the stump. "I just thought I should come check on you, see what you're up to! Stuff like that."

Diana blinked as Akko scooted right up next to her. "I…am working on my paper." She said finally. "Exactly what I told you I'd be doing."

"I…I mean, I _know_ that, but like…" Akko floundered for an excuse. "Um, what _specifically_ are you writing? I mean…I dunno, maybe you could use some help with it!"

"I don't know, Akko." Diana said. "This isn't really…"

"C'mon!" Akko shook her shoulders. "At least let me _try!_ "

"It's just…" Diana chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Some of the inscriptions in these ruins make mention of some mythological structure that are similar to the legends of the character of, especially in regards to topics like inner desires and fears, and I believe I want to make a point in this paper about the role, but I'm not sure how to incorporate and transition into them in a way that's not too…tangential, if that makes sense."

Akko blinked.

"…o-okay Diana, but if you need _emotional_ support-!"

Diana turned and regarded her with a small smile. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, I truly do. But really, I can finish this just fine on my own. You don't need to be concerned."

Akko recognized that tone. It was Diana trying to tell her as gently as possible to be quieter and not to bother her. It was a tone Akko was on the receiving end of quite often. Diana turned away again and focused back on her notebook, spending the minutes in silence.

Figuring it would be pointless to argue, Akko laid her head against Diana's back, right in between her shoulder blades. She settled in, sinking into the wavy blonde hair. It was comfier than she thought it'd be, especially with the gentle rhythm of Diana's breath. Akko could feel her every movement against her head.

Including the way Diana's back moved when she let out an exasperated sigh. "…Can I help you with something, Akko?"

"Oh, well…" Akko drummed her fingers. "I was just thinking…"

"In my experience, nothing good ever follows those words."

Akko ignored her. "Why don't I stay here and _help_ you with studying these things?" She asked. "I mean, that would be fun, right? Exploring an ancient temple, crawling through dark tunnels, dodging booby traps, that sorta thing? I bet you could a witch like me watching your back."

"It's not a temple, Akko." Diana said flatly. "It's more of a shrine than anything else. And there's no tunnels, traps, catacombs or anything so grand."

"How do you know? Maybe there's some…hidden passageway in there or something!"

"I can safely say there's no more to these ruins than what you see." Diana said, somehow _more_ flatly. "This isn't an adventure movie."

"Not with _that_ attitude, it's not!" Akko grinned. "I'm sure there's plenty of cool stuff going on just below the surface! You could totally use an extra pair of hands to help!"

"I can handle myself just fine." Diana tapped her pencil. "I really don't believe there's any need for a bodyguard here."

"So…you're not scared of like, restless spirits or the shrine being cursed, or…I dunno. Being here alone in the dark?"

The muscles in Diana's back twitched. "No. I can honestly say there's nothing in the area that scares me."

"…is there anything you _are_ scared of?" Akko asked. "Because you know, snakes kinda freak me out. And I'm not big on spiders either. What about you?"

Diana suddenly stood up, and Akko just about fell off the stump entirely. She looked up to see the unabashedly annoyed glint in Diana's eyes. "Look, if I said I was afraid of not getting paper done in a timely fashion, would _that_ be enough to satisfy you?" She planted her hands on her hips. "Because I would _like_ to get some of this done before it gets dark, and this conversation _really_ isn't helping me concentrate."

Akko flinched. "Okay fine, I get it! I can be quiet! Watch, I won't say anything!" She made a show of zipping her mouth shut. And to cap it off, she gestured to her face just to prove how silent she could be when she put her mind to it.

Diana rolled her eyes before sitting back down, making a point not to sit next to Akko as opposed to in front of her again. Akko kept true to her word, and not a single sound escaped her lips. Diana was content with that, intently writing away.

At least, until she finally noticed Akko playing with her hair.

With a huff, Diana set down her pencil. "Are you just…determined not to let me work?"

"Hmm?" Akko hummed, not opening her mouth. "Mmm mm!"

"So now you're not talking to me, is that it?" Diana glared. " _That_ was what you took away from all that, and not my actual intent?"

Akko grinned. "Mm hmm."

Diana shook her head. Tellingly, however, she did not ask Akko to stop.

That was as close to a victory as Akko hoped to get. So she sat there, playing with the wavy strands of blonde hair, all while Diana pretended not to notice. Akko couldn't help but notice the subtle way Diana's shoulder's relaxed as the two of them sat in silence. Maybe Diana would never admit how much she enjoyed moments like these, but Akko knew her well enough to recognize all the little signs Diana couldn't express with words.

Diana sighed gently, turning her head only just enough to see Akko out of the corner of her eye without actually interrupting her process. "…Look, it's not that I'm…displeased to see you here. And I certainly wouldn't _mind_ having you here helping me work. But I just genuinely don't think you'd actually have much interest in this. I'd rather you not just-" She paused, before finally catching onto what Akko was doing. "A-are you…are you trying to _braid_ my hair?"

Akko nodded, sticking her tongue out. "Yeah, but it's not really working so hot. I swear I can get it though!"

Diana snatched her hair back, throwing it all over her shoulder away from Akko's hands. "D-don't do that."

"I've never seen you with anything but your hair down, and I think it'd be a good adventurous look, right? Besides, maybe you'd look really pretty!"

Diana stared at her a long moment. Her face was blank, in spite of the blush creeping up her cheeks. She set her notebook down on her bag, and took a deep breath. "Akko, I…I mean this in the kindest way possible."

Akko felt her own face heat up as Diana set a hand on top of her own. "Yeah…?"

"You are…very distracting."

And Diana grabbed her bag from the ground, walked several meters in a direction that was decidedly away from Akko, before sitting right down in the grass and returning her attention to the notebook.

Now alone on the stump, Akko leaned against her elbow with a long groan, clearly unheard to anyone but herself. She looked up at the obelisks in the ruins, and for a brief moment, she swore one of the stone faces was laughing at her.

* * *

 _A.N. I really meant to get this chapter up last night, but unfortunately, stuff got in the way. Hopefully I can do a bit better with chapter 3, where things really start kicking up and some of the stuff here actually begins to be really significant._

 _Anyway…here's a fun fact to make up for it. Sihuanaba is a real mythological figure in the Guatemalan area, but I really can't imagine she'd have much relation to anything built around the Mayan times, especially given the suspected origins of the myths. But I used to love the cryptic stories like hers as a kid. Not that ladies with horse heads will really be incorporated into the plot here or anything, but I thought it'd be a fun reference, if only just for nerds like me._


	3. Dark of the Night

It was cloudy tonight. Akko couldn't help but sigh.

She had spent a solid chunk of her life looking towards the sky. Which was, really, only partially symbolic for how ambitious her dreams of the future was. In reality, she spent quite a bit of time literally looking upwards. She remembered watching Shiny Chariot soar over her head when she was just a little girl. And she remembered spending the next ten years of her life looking upwards wondering if someday, she could fly like that too.

She still spent days wondering. She had certainly gotten better at flying, but she was still years behind her classmates in terms of experience. It didn't take much for her to lose control of her broom. A few stray thoughts, a sudden doubt, the smallest lapse in concentration, and suddenly her status as a newcomer would rear its ugly head and she'd go crashing to the ground, left behind by everyone else. Finding herself looking skyward again.

Diana, after pretty thoroughly blowing her off, had continued to work in silence. Akko was skilled enough in reading the girl's body language to tell she was frustrated by something about her work, that something was eating at her and throwing her off-kilter, but still not yet skilled enough in anything related to all these old relics to know how to help.

So Akko could do nothing. And if she was going to sit around doing nothing, she'd at least like to be able to look at the stars, but the clouds were thick enough to completely obscure even the moon, let alone any smaller lights.

Though hopefully, that part wasn't metaphorical. After the way this vacation had been going, she was really in the mood for something to go right for her.

For once.

After a few moments of doing nothing but watch the wind drag the dark clouds across the sky, tapping her foot against the base of the tree for no other reason than a desire _not_ to be still, her attention was caught by the light of an electric lantern.

Darío approached the two girls with a light smile. "It's…getting pretty late. I'd really advise getting out of here by now."

And, predictably, Diana didn't even look up to shoot the suggestion down. "Thank you for your concern, but I believe I'm…close to something here. If you don't mind, I'd like to stay for a short while longer. Just until I can get this."

"I guess I might've expected that…" Darío muttered.

Diana sat up. "Is that…not okay? I don't wish to impose, but…"

Darío sighed. "No. No, it's fine. I guess. Whatever makes you happy." He turned to Akko. "…How did someone like you get mixed up with these two anyway? Her and that…Andy fellow?"

Akko cocked her head. "What makes you ask that?"

"Guess I'm just…curious. Seems like some odd friendships you have going on."

Akko tried not to let the statement sting.

She thought for a moment. "Well, Andrew once visited my school, where I accidentally turned him into a donkey man, and then later when I went to his party he got stung by a bee and fell in love with me for a little bit." She jerked her thumb in Diana's direction. "Diana goes to my school, but…we didn't really know each other until that thing with the Jennifer Tree where she shot me in the back with an extermination spell. And she was at the same party and also fell in love with me because of a bee sting."

Diana finally looked up, visibly displeased. And her tone was flatly annoyed. "Akko."

Akko shrugged innocently. "…What? I mean, that's true, isn't it? That's basically how we met. I mean, we talked before the Jennifer Tree, but that was mostly you telling me not to follow in Shiny Chariot's footsteps and then me doing it anyway. I just remembered the Jennifer thing better."

"You could've just left it at we met at school." Diana rolled her eyes. "…You may keep the part about humiliating Andrew, however."

Akko crossed her arms. "You should be nicer to Andrew! He's not so bad. And besides, I think you two actually have a lot in common!"

Diana bristled. "Don't be ridiculous."

Akko sighed. Was it really so much to ask that two of her best friends like each other? Why couldn't the three of them ever get along like she wanted them to? She felt like one of them had to be doing something wrong, and more and more, she was worried it was going to turn out to be her.

Darío cleared his throat. "…I'm going to go back to the house. I _strongly_ recommend you two join me and clear out."

"I'll be leaving in just a moment." Diana said, returning her full attention to the obelisk. "I just need to finish what I'm doing right now. I know I'm right on the edge of figuring this out, if I can just…" And she went right back into her own little world.

Akko jumped as Darío suddenly grabbed her by the shoulder. "This place…is not somewhere kids like you should be after dark." He mumbled. "You _really_ should get back to the house."

"What?" Akko's brows furrowed. "Why?"

"Trust me." Darío insisted. "I swear…not everything that came out of these ruins was good. I don't like being here at night. Somehow it…changes things."

Before Akko could even ask what that meant, Darío quickly gathered his belongings and retreated through the trees, back in the direction of his house.

She couldn't help but feel nervous as she watched him wander away.

* * *

Wandering a foreign city at night with an utterly baseline understanding of the language may not have been most people's idea of calming, but somehow it was working for Andrew.

Despite how late at night it was, he managed to find a cheap café and ordered a cold drink. The fact of the matter was, he rarely, if ever, got the chance to just laze around and relax nowadays. He wanted a vacation to take his edge off, not to dwell on it more and dump it on the first person he talked to. And really, just being out and about as opposed to lazing around those old ruins was doing wonders to clear his head.

He sat in silence with his drink, simply listening to the sounds of the city. The low hum of cars, the clicks and whirrs of air conditioning machines, distant conversations being carried by the wind. It was as far removed from the isolated antiquity of mansions as he could get, which was really all he was in the mood for.

He glanced over to see a frail woman sit at an adjacent table. It was old. Very much so, with long silver curls atop her wrinkled head. From her tanned skin color, she looked like a local. And when she caught Andrew looking, he found her smile almost grandmotherly.

"Shame about all the clouds tonight." She mused. Her voice was raspy, but her English accent sounded like it could've come from one of Andrew's own neighbors. "They say witches are at their most powerful in the light of a full moon. Brings out magic in even the oldest bones."

"I don't believe I've heard that." Andrew raised a brow. "Are you a witch, miss…?"

And to the old woman's credit, her cackle was perfectly witchlike. "Oh no! No, we don't have many witches down here anymore. Not _true_ witches anyway."

Andrew tilted his head. "How so?"

"Probably because we don't have any big witch academies." The woman watched some kids playing on a balcony in a building across the street. "Back when magic was declining, countries like this got hit hard. Other places at least had a vested interest in keeping magic going, to keep their big schools open and their big witch families fed, but not here!"

"I'm no…wizard or…warlock or whatever the term would be." Andrew shrugged. "But magic had been restored, correct? Now that it's on the rise once more, surely there's a possibility for more academies to be opened, right?"

The woman turned her attention back to him. "Ah, but that's up to the big shots. The heads of state, the academics, blue bloods. The kind of people who _never_ change. Those kind of people just can't change their nature!"

"...Right."

Andrew felt something stir in the pit of his stomach, and chose to drown the unpleasant feeling with a long drink. Hadn't this exact topic been what he'd been trying to get away from? It's not like this woman could've known that, sure. He was probably just some lost lady looking for someone to talk to.

"Ah, but it makes no difference around _here_ anyway!" The woman continued, not caring one bit about his visible lack of interest. "None of these new-age witches are like the witches of _my_ time. They're all just too soft, nowadays. They don't know the first thing about fear!"

"Fear…huh?" Andrew took another long sip of his drink. If he finished it, he'd throw away his cup and have a decent excuse to end this conversation.

"Sure." The woman grinned. "Witches used to be scary, back in their glory days. What better way to protect what's important to you than scaring everyone else off? A few big spells here, a couple cursed objects there, and then nobody wants to mess with you or anyone near you."

Andrew almost dropped his cup.

"…cursed objects?" He asked. "Did…witches who lived here go around…cursing things to inspire fear?"

The old woman cackled again. "Curses! Used to be the bread and butter of any half-decent witch! You do a spell once, and then you can inspire fear for generations!"

"But I mean… _specifically_ around here." Andrew leaned forward in his seat. "Do you know if witches in this area were the kind to…curse objects?"

"Didn't I just say that's what all real witches did?" The woman arched a brow. "Course they did!"

Andrew stared down at his empty cup. He was far from any expert when it came to magic _anything_ , but being around the ruins made him feel…on-edge. And that was the feeling he was, specifically, trying to escape by coming here. And really, a sealed shrine in the middle of nowhere? And suddenly he got a creepy feeling running down his spine just by looking at them? He didn't need years of magic schooling to find that suspicious.

But then…if the ruins _were_ cursed…wouldn't Akko and Diana know about it? Akko specifically hadn't felt the same unsettling vibe around the ruins as he did. Of course, he had no real magic potential in him at all. If something was cursed, he'd be the first one of them to fall victim to it. He had no way of resisting it.

But those two were witches. If the ruins _were_ magically cursed, they'd be able to resist. Wouldn't they? Surely if nothing else, for longer than him.

"Yeah. That's old school." The woman sighed contently, breaking Andrew from his thoughts. "Witches are supposed to be the ones to _take_ your worst fears, have 'em creep up on you slow enough you don't even notice, and then make you face them."

* * *

For reasons Akko couldn't place, she had decided it best to sit back and not say much to Diana. Something in the back of her mind kept reminding her that Diana didn't have time for her right now. She had too much actually important stuff to do to need Akko bugging her.

Diana was kneeling inside the shell encasing the ruins, studying the inscriptions carved in the obelisks by the light from the tip of her wand. Akko's eyes kept drifting over to the stone faces, just above her girlfriend's hand.

 _Logically_ , she knew they were just rocks. They couldn't actually move. But somehow the faces looked like they were laughing. And no matter how much she _tried_ to ignore them, she inexplicably kept looking up to see them laughing at how little Diana wanted anyone like Akko to be here right now.

But…still. Akko was never one to give up. Maybe if Diana was annoyed by having anyone like Akko around while she was trying to work, then Akko could help her by simply acting more…academic or something. She spent all this time around Andrew and Diana anyway, watching them do all their future head-of-state and future leader-of-the-Cavendish-House stuff, and she _was_ still a performer at heart. She could talk like they did.

And if it would put a smile on Diana's face, so much the better.

She walked up to Diana with her hands folded behind her back, and in a forced, vaguely professional voice, asked, "So…is there any…uh, aspect of your paper that's…troubling you, as of late?"

She had been half-sure that Diana was just going to tell her off for bothering her again. But to her surprise, Diana instead turned around, utterly baffled. "I…what?"

"You…um…you appear…perplexed and I was wondering if you wante- no, _desired_ help. Or no, assistance." Akko cleared her throat into her fist. "I merely wish to know if you desired assistance, since you seem perplexed. So…do you?"

"…why are you…?" Diana squinted, before shaking her head. "…To be honest, I'm not sure _what's_ wrong with me right now. I've been visualizing how I was going to write this since the plane ride over, yet now that I'm actually _here_ , I just…can't get it onto the page. It's…deeply frustrating."

"But why can't-?" Akko paused. "W-why ever…not? Can you not get it onto the page, I mean. For what reason are you having difficulties?"

Diana stood up to face her, hugging her arms to her chest. "I've just been feeling distracted, I suppose. I feel like something's…nipping, at the back of my mind. I can't place what it is, but I feel like…"

"Lik- I mean, as though…?"

"…Ah, it's nothing to dwell on." Diana sighed, hanging her head. "I'd definitely rather not fail this paper, but…well, if I do, I'll live."

"Why would _you_ be worried about failing?" Akko's brows furrowed. "You're crazy good at all this school stuff. There's no way you're gonna fail."

Diana scoffed. "Oh, I've failed plenty of things in my life. It's part of the process." She ran a hand through her hair. "But…I just…don't like it because of some vague…unnamed feeling in the back of my head. If I'm going to lose something, I'd rather know _why_ , so I can correct my mistakes and prevent it from happening again."

Akko reached out and gently took her hand. "I still don't totally get what all this is…but I mean…I still wanna help you if I can? I just…you know…wanna…" Somehow, a word as simple and easy as 'stay' got caught on her tongue.

Diana tapped her chin. "I suppose there's one thing you could do. I've been trying to translate some of the inscriptions on these ruins. Do you think you could cast an illumination spell with me, light these up?"

"Oh, uh…" Akko shifted on her feet. "I don't have my wand."

Diana's expression flattened. "You left it in the Santillo house?"

"No, I left it on my bed. At Luna Nova. In Europe."

Diana groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose, taking her hand right back. "Why would you do that? Not _only_ are you putting your wand at risk of being stolen by leaving it unattended, but-"

"I…I didn't think I'd need it!" Akko said, quicker and shakier than she intended. "I mean…I dunno! Why would I need it?"

Diana planted her hands on her hips. "Honestly, you're too reckless sometimes. As a witch, it's important to be prepared for these things, and I don't want to see something happen to you. Because I don't think I can handle any more-!" She stopped, and the blood drained from her face.

Diana turned back to the ruins. "…Never mind. You should just head back to the house."

"But Diana…" Akko swallowed. Why was she so afraid to talk to her about this? She could tell Diana anything. She had always been honest with Diana, but now she felt like everything she could say to her would just…ruin everything.

She glanced back to where Darío had left, debating whether or not she _should_ join him. But she couldn't just leave Diana here alone either. Despite her every instinct telling her not to, Akko decided she _needed_ to tell Diana the truth about what was on her mind. And then maybe once Diana heard her out, they could fix this whole thing.

Akko took a deep breath. "Diana…I just…I just wanna make sure I don't-"

And then, without warning, something burst from the bushes, with a loud, primal roar.

* * *

"Face them?" Andrew's brows furrowed. "What…you mean like…illusions?"

"Oh sure." The woman shrugged. " _Some_ of 'em liked to use illusions. Make you see your dead relatives back from the grave or giant monsters out to eat you, things like that. But the _real_ mean ones? The witches you'd wanna watch out for? All they'd do is whisper your deepest, darkest doubts in your ear and let you stew in it."

Andrew thought back to the chill that ran down his spine when he approached the ruins. It was nothing. Not at the time at least. But as time went by, he suddenly found himself consumed with the thoughts of the person he had been before. The person he never wanted to be again.

And this…this would explain why those thoughts had suddenly crept up on him. Slowly and subtly until it had just consumed him. He wasn't sure what he might've done if he hadn't at least vented to someone.

It was not a pleasant thought. "…and then?"

The woman stared at him for a long moment. "…why does a boy like you have such an interest in the ways witches used to do things? You're not the type to go outside your bubble, are you?"

"Humor me." Andrew deadpanned.

The woman tapped her chin, as if questioning if she should tell him. "…Tears people apart." She said at last. "You'd let that fear build enough to make them second-guess themselves. Make mistakes. Be too focused on the worst parts of themselves to think straight, let alone do anything to fight back. And then when the poor unsuspecting souls are _that_ shaky and scared…well…that's when the real mean ones would strike."

* * *

Akko stood up, a sharp gasp escaping her throat, staring at the sudden intruder.

It looked like a panther but bigger. _Much_ bigger. Even on four legs, it stood up to her chin. Its fur was jet black, but more notably than that were the jagged spines jutting out along its back. Like shards of glass had been stabbed into its spine.

Even Diana seemed shocked by its sudden appearance. "What in the world _is_ that…?"

"Uh…!" Akko took a few slow steps back. "I…I think that's the wild animal Darío was talking about! I thought he meant like…bugs or something! This doesn't even seem like a regular animal!"

Diana took a single look at Akko's wide-eyed expression, before quickly taking aim at the creature with her wand.

Before she could cast, Akko stayed her hand. "Wait, you're just gonna zap it?" She asked. "That's sorta…"

Diana yanked her hand back and took aim once more. "No, this spell won't hurt it, but it should encourage it to leave."

With an incantation Akko didn't recognize, a light pink beam shot forth from the tip of the wand and hit the strange panther. The beam dissipated, passing over its form like a wave. But to Diana's surprise, the creature didn't even flinch, let alone leave the clearing.

"What the…?" Diana stared at her wand. "But that…I…I _casted_ it correctly, didn't I? I…I couldn't have made another mistake..."

The panther, undeterred, began to circle around them. Its crimson eyes watching their every move. And then, as if it couldn't get any more unnatural, it opened its mouth.

"This…is my _home…_ " Its voice was a deep baritone. "You're not wanted here…get out of here. I won't let _anyone_ trespass on me. Steal from me."

"I-it _talked!_ " Akko's brows shot up.

Diana shook her head. "Not the time, Akko!"

The panther suddenly stopped in its tracks, and reared back. "You can't take it from me!" It screamed. "It's _mine!_ None of your people are going to take what's mine! Not anymore!"

And then it pounced, right at Diana.

* * *

Andrew swallowed. "That's…that seems rather…gruesome."

"Yeah." The old woman chuckled in agreement. "Thank goodness we don't have any magic users like _that_ around these days. I don't think these new age witches could _handle_ that old magic."

Andrew shifted in his seat. "…How…how do you know all this? I don't know if I got your name."

"Eh?" The woman tilted her head. "Oh, like I said, I'm just an old, nostalgia-obsessed woman. What can I really say, young man? Sometimes, it's hard for people to change their ways. Almost impossible for some folk. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I…I really don't know." Andrew admitted. "…maybe I should head back right about now. My…my friends might be missing me."

"Well, I'd be careful, young man." The woman said, as she stood up from her chair. "I'd hate to see something poor happen to the likes of such an attentive listener. Make sure you get back home safe."

Andrew nodded, almost mechanically, watching as the woman hobbled out of the café.

Andrew stood from his own seat, and began to walk back. He only got a few steps before he broke into a run. He sprinted through the streets, desperate to get back in time. He didn't know if what he thought was true actually _was_ true, but if there was even the slightest chance, he had to warn Diana and Akko. Before one of the few true friends he actually had ended up hurt.

* * *

The creature missed Diana by scant inches, its massive claws tearing gashes into the dirt and sending grass flying in every direction. She fell from her feet, thankfully unharmed. But her wand, the only weapon either of the two girls had to even hope to defend themselves, fell from her hand.

Akko's heart skipped a beat as Diana stumbled. She should've been smarter, been a more traditional witch who had the forethought to bring her own wand. But she pushed the thoughts from her head, she couldn't dwell on that.

She darted over, snatching the wand from the ground and taking aim. Akko shouted the first offensive spell that came to her head.

" _Murowa!_ "

But the wand didn't react.

"…Murowa!" Akko shook the wand. "Murowa, murowa, murowa! Come on! Please! Not now!" She had the passion, but not the concentration. She could barely get her incantations right when she was calm, and she was scared out of her wits.

She chucked the wand at the panther, watching as it uselessly bounced off. All she got for her efforts was a low growl.

But Akko refused to let her fear get the best of her. She rushed the panther, trying to push it over, but it was simply too big for her weight to have any real impact. The creature didn't even look up as it swatted her aside with its paw.

Akko rolled across the ground, knocked halfway into the ruins themselves. With a groan, she pushed herself up from the steps, looking up to see the stone faces chuckling at her. This creature was too big, too strong. She couldn't do anything to stop it.

…No. Akko kept pushing the doubts from her head. She couldn't give up. She turned away from the stone faces, her mind racing to think of some solution. And when she turned around fully, and saw the creature, everything in her stopped.

Diana had been dazed from the impact, too dazed to notice the panther almost on top of her, preparing to sink its teeth into her skull.

And all of Akko's rational thought went out the window. She didn't think. She didn't have time. All she knew was that she let Diana get hurt. She couldn't lose Diana. Almost on instinct, she moved. Moved to do _anything_ to keep the panther from hurting Diana. Akko charged in front of her, and slammed her forearm in the creature's path just as it was about to bit down.

Akko didn't hear herself scream. The only sound that reached her ears was that of her own bones crunching under the panther's teeth.

But between the foreign object slammed into its jowls, and the ear-piercing cry of pain, she caught the creature off-balance. It quickly released her arm from its jaw, and jumped backwards, putting distance between itself and Akko.

She struggled to keep her balance. The ground felt shaky. Every single movement she made sent a stabbing sensation through her arm. She stumbled backwards. Her breathes came in quick painful gasps. She felt tears pricking her eyes. Her arm burned, and her eyes involuntarily flicked down.

All she saw was red. Seeping from her arm. Coating her free hand. Dripping onto her knees.

And suddenly, she couldn't feel the pain anymore. She couldn't feel much of anything. Her head felt light. Like she had been completely disconnected with her body. And then her legs gave out from under her, and she collapsed.

With what little willpower she had left, she managed to look up, and locked eyes with the panther once more. It was looking back at her, staring at the mangled flesh where it had bitten her. She had been stupid. She had rushed in without a plan and gotten herself hurt, and now both she _and_ Diana were going to pay for it.

But the panther simply stared at her defenseless form, before it turned its tail and jumped back into the bushes. Just as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone. Maybe if she hadn't felt so close to passing out, she might've wondered why it was leaving. But the back of her head hit the dirt just as she heard Diana shriek her name.

" _AKKO!_ "

Her vision was blurring, but she could still just barely make out the sight of Diana rushing to her side. Diana's hands hovered just above her form, like she wanted to hold her, comfort her, but she was too afraid to actually touch her.

"No…no no no no!" Diana's hands shook. "W-why would you-?! What were you-?!"

"Di…Diana…?" Akko's voice came out in short gasps. "I…my arm…my…"

Diana finally reached down to cradle her cheeks, forcing a calming smile onto her face. "Okay, okay. Stay calm, alright? Just…just focus on my voice, alright?" She swallowed, scanning the damage as much as she could bring herself to. "…Okay. I need to clean the…n-no, I should…I should heal the wounds first. Heal the…where's my wand? I have to…"

Akko couldn't keep her focus on Diana, as much as she tried. Of all things, she found her eyes drifting over to the ruins. The stone faces weren't just laughing. They were sneering at her, smirking, mocking. Looking so smug that they had proved themselves right.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she could just barely make out the green light of healing magic on her arm. Diana was kneeling there. Akko had never seen her look so terrified.

"Stay with me, okay Akko? I'm going to fix this. I _swear_ I can fix this. I…" Diana sniffed. "D-don't pass out on me, okay? You don't even have to talk. Just…just _please_ stay awake so…so I…"

The light from Diana's spell faltered for a second. Diana muttered under her breath. "Come on…you're a _Cavendish…_ you don't…you don't make mistakes…come on…focus…" She turned to the girl on the ground. "Hang on…okay? F-focus on me. Don't…j-just stay awake, okay? I promise, it's going to be over soon. You're going to be okay."

Akko's eyes felt heavy. But no matter how much her vision blurred, she could _still_ see the amused expressions of the stone faces clear as day. Maybe Diana could fix her, but the faces assured her that even when she got out of this, she ruined everything.

She messed up. She messed up. That was all they were saying. She had messed up. As the last of her consciousness left her, and she blacked out, Akko found herself afraid to hear what Diana would say to her when she woke again.

* * *

 _A.N. …Well._

 _I don't know what to say except…you know, the OVA had Diana reprimand Hannah and Barbara for getting scared, saying witches are supposed to inspire fear. Which doesn't really gel with how the series proper portrays them. So wouldn't it be fun to play around with that idea? Isn't this fun?_

 _And while I'm at it, you might as well go back and look what was said about wild animals in Chapter one._


	4. A Rainy Morning

Diana was not sure how long it had been since the attack. Over an hour. But that was as far as she knew. She stopped being able to count the seconds. Which was a mistake. Another one of hers tonight.

Akko was stabilized. She was still unconscious. She was in bandages, and her arm was in a makeshift sling. But she would live. Diana saved her life. That was, in all likelihood, the one part she did right. But she was losing control. Of time, and of everything else.

Diana had packed an extra blanket in her bag. She had folded it up into a makeshift pillow. She didn't want Akko to have to lay on the dirt. She didn't want Akko to still be in this clearing either. There was no telling if that creature could come back. Or when. But Diana didn't trust moving Akko yet.

So she was keeping guard. Kneeling next to her. Staring blankly into the trees. Waiting in silence. She could hear Akko breathing next to her. She could hear her own breaths coming out, much harder. Much shakier. But still, Diana did not move. She remained as still as the ruins to her back.

Healing magic was, supposedly, the expertise of the Cavendish house. That was one of many realities she came to understand about her surname as she grew into it. Her house was one of compassion. Of healers. It was their history, their legacy, and thus it was Diana's place to bear that responsibility and to learn the trade.

There were plenty of texts left behind by her ancestors for her to study from. Memoirs, private journals, and documents by nurses, doctors, and witches of all kinds. They detailed their practices. How to recognize symptoms. How to treat every manner of injury. How to keep a victim stabilized while the magic worked. How to tend to them so the body could restore its natural process afterwards.

It had not been difficult for her to understand the technical aspect of the spells. She was good with memorization. It had not been overly difficult for her to remember the crucial steps, nor was it to summon the magic power from her wand to the bite on the arm. All the technical parts of the healing came easy. The important parts. The ones she couldn't feel but just performed.

By far, the most difficult part about healing spells was the concentration it took. Active concentration. It took absolute focus. No matter how horrible the wound, no matter how deep and ugly and unpleasant the injury was to look at, a healer had to place their full attention on it. On every detail.

It took her fifteen minutes to heal Akko's arm. She knew that for a fact. Fifteen minutes in total. Staring at the mass of torn skin, watching it stitch itself back together. Diana wonders if she could've done it faster.

No.

No, she _knows_ she could've done it faster.

Not even could've. Should've done it faster, she _should've_ been able to do it faster. It was her own damn fault Akko got hurt in the first place, and then when Akko actually needed her help, she was slow and useless and just _not good enough._

She _needed_ to be in control and when it actually _mattered_ she wasn't and now someone was paying for _her_ mistake. It wasn't fair…it just wasn't _fair._ Everything had gone wrong and…and she…

She could _feel_ something inside breaking. Like she was walking on ice and all she had to do was make one more careless and utterly stupid mistake and it would shatter under her feet and the icy water would rush down her throat and drown her.

She should've been faster. She never should've let any of this happen in the first place, but she _should've been faster._

But she couldn't do it. She couldn't concentrate. Her whole family's legacy, her entire life's work up to this point, and she could not concentrate on it. She was failing. Failing failing failing _failing._

Because no matter how good at healing spells she stupidly thought she was, every time she looked over, and saw just whose arm it was she was mending…that this had happened to _Akko_ , she couldn't…she couldn't…

A tear pricked the corner of her eyes again, and she pinched them shut. She breathed. In and out. Over and over. Until her emotions became more controllable. She would not slip. She would not cry. She would not allow herself to cry. She failed in almost everything else today. But she will not fail against her own emotions.

The tears were gone once she opened her eyes. They were empty once more, and they cast down to check on the girl.

Diana reached down to Akko's uninjured arm, the one not in a sling, and checked her pulse again. It was still lower than average. But it was slightly faster than the last time she checked. It was still steady, which was the important thing. Her breathing was normal. Her skin was still pale, magic could only do so much to replace blood loss, but she looked like she would be okay.

So she quietly retracted her hand and placed it back in her lap. Away from Akko. Her fingers clenched involuntarily. Something in the back of her mind kept wanting to look towards the ruins. She wasn't sure what for, what she hoped to see, but the desire remained. She didn't know what she would do in the next hour. The next day. How to move on with this happening to Akko. She never knew what to do with Akko.

But still, Diana did not move. She watched every leaf shiver in the cold wind. She watched the grey clouds suffocate the moon overhead. She watched the tree branches rigidly hanging in the air, unmoved by anything.

And then the bushes rustled.

Before she could even register herself doing it, she was already on her feet and her wand in her hand. Diana steeled herself, and the tip of her wand crackled with deadly energy. She planted her feet on the ground, putting herself between Akko and the figure just as it exited the bushes.

Just as she raised her arm to let loose a spell, the figure raised his hands. "Whoa! Diana!" Andrew pleaded. "H-hang on! It's me! It's _me!_ "

"Andrew…?" Diana gasped.

She studied his face for a moment, before glancing back at the wand in her hand, still alight with energy. She dissipated the spell and lowered her wand, and tried to re-center herself.

Her heart was hammering in her chest. Her nerves felt like they were being electrocuted. But Diana took her waves of panic and anger and crushed them down. She breathed. In and out. In and out.

When she spoke again, her voice was deceptively neutral. "…My apologies then."

Andrew let out a sigh of relief. "It's…fine. Trust me, I can't blame you." He chuckled. He actually chuckled. "Listen, Diana. We need to get out of here. This place, these ruins, they aren't-"

Andrew stopped in his tracks, noticing the girl on the ground behind Diana's feet. Between the dark, and the blatant tension Diana could see in the boy, it took him a moment to recognize her as Akko. "What…what happened to her…?"

Diana swallowed. She knew the question would be coming, but… "…Some sort of panther. Attacked us. She was…bitten. I believe she went into shock when she saw..."

She trailed off, unable to say the word. But despite her even tone, Andrew's expression was one of horror. " _Shock?_ " He gaped, running a hand through his hair. "I…are you serious? Should we…did you call a hospital?"

"Healing magic." Diana said simply. "And I've been checking her…periodically, for any after-effects. For now, she is alright."

"A-are…are you sure? Because that's…that's a very serious-"

"I'm sure." Diana cut him off. It came out too harsh. A complete betrayal of what the Cavendish name was supposed to stand for. She wouldn't slip. In and out. Until her hands stopped shaking.

The outward concern on Andrew's face, however, only increased. His eyes flicked downwards, at the dark red stains on Diana's jeans. Where she had laid Akko's arm. "Diana…are _you_ okay?"

"I was not harmed in the attack, no."

"I…yeah, that's good, but…are you actually _okay?_ " Andrew took a gentle step forward. "You're not…acting like yourself right now. A-and trust me, I get _why_. But…really, you should…" He reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder.

As soon as his fingers made contact, Diana violently jerked her shoulder away. Her own hand went almost instinctively to her wand. To attack, to fight back, to regain something, anything.

"Don't-!"

Diana stopped. In. And out. She would not slip. She would not lose the only thing she had left. "…Don't." She said. "Don't touch me."

Andrew quickly pulled away his hand, confusion and worry mixing in his features. "O-okay. Fine." He cleared his throat, trying to imbue some level of authority in his voice. "We…we should get out of here. Away from _those_ things."

She watched blankly as he bent down to begin to try and pick up Akko, and she watched blankly as he winced at the specks of red on her shirt sleeves. And when she continued to stand there, unmoving, he furrowed his brows at her. "Diana. Come on. We can't leave her here. We gotta get here out of here. This place isn't safe."

"I know." She knew. She definitely knew. She should've known it before, should've told her to stay away, but she knew now, when it no longer made a difference.

Andrew waved her over. "Then come on, help me lift her. Let's…let's get her back to the house. We'll be safer there."

Gingerly, Andrew hooked his arms around Akko's legs, and Diana did her best to help him lift her as safely as possible. Most of her internal injuries should have been fixed. But she had been wrong before. She had been so wrong before.

As soon as she was…confident that Akko was safe in his grip, she went back for her bag, with the first-aid kit still inside. Just in case she might need it again later. Even considering the idea played with her insides, made her feel like she wanted to vomit again. But she did it anyway, all without a single sound.

With her bag hanging loosely on her shoulder, she followed Andrew and Akko back to the safety of the doctor's house. But despite how much the present demanded her attention, her eyes kept drifting back to the ruins, and with it, her mind ran wild.

She imagined Beatrix, on the night her spirit appeared to her during the Jupiter's eclipse, retracting her blessing. She imagined her mother, from wherever she was watching down on her, shaking her head in disapproval. She imagined Daryl and Anna and everyone else watching her fall short again and again and again.

And for a moment, she almost wanted to curse the fact that she hadn't been able to get Akko to safety on her own. That she had been so stupid as to let Akko tag along without being able to protect her. That after all of this, all of this, she was still completely helpless. She should've just gone by herself. She shouldn't have done this to Andrew. And definitely not to Akko.

But her hands started to shake again, and Diana crushed down the emotions once more. It was all she knew how to do at this point. She just had to keep pushing them down. Keep breathing. Keep her face still.

In.

And Out.

* * *

The first sound Akko heard was rain.

She didn't open her eyes, not yet at least... Her head felt…weird. Too light for her body. But she could hear water tapping against glass from somewhere to her…left? She was pretty sure it was her left. It was not raining particularly hard, wherever it was. It was hard to tell.

She was laying down on her back. Beneath her body, she could feel a mattress. She could feel a cushion beneath her head, a fairly soft pillow. She felt a wool blanket beneath her legs. The air was cool against her skin. She was inside, somewhere. She couldn't remember how she got here, but everything felt normal, except for…her arm?

She couldn't feel her arm. She could feel _one_ , but not the other. She couldn't get it to move. Why couldn't she-?

And then the memories came rushing back to her. The ruins. A black streak screaming through the air. Teeth closing in on her. Diana in trouble.

Her eyes snapped open, and she all but jumped out of her bed. It took a second for reality to catch up to her.

She was in the guest room in Darío's house. Her suitcase still stacked in the corner, untouched since the plane ride. Rain was tapping against the window, but from the light coming through the grey clouds, it was sometime in the morning.

Diana was sitting on the edge of the bed, right next to where her feet had been seconds ago. Her eyes were wide and her lips parted, startled by Akko's sudden movement.

Akko blinked. "Diana?"

At her name, Diana closed her mouth and her expression quickly turned blank as she turned her head away to look back down at her feet. She hadn't even made a sound.

On the other side of the room, Andrew had been leaning against the door, with his arms crossed. He cast a quizzical look at Diana, before standing up and approaching the bed, a smile forced onto his cheeks. "So…how are you feeling?"

Akko stared down at her arm, covered in white bandages and in a sling wrapped around her shoulder. She tried to flex her hand, make the smallest movement possible, but got no response. She couldn't move it. It was…

Well, truth be told, she found it more weird than anything else. Seeing it there but not having any feeling in it. She scratched the side of her head with her one working hand. "I can't really…feel my fingers."

Diana raised her head, but otherwise did not turn to look at her. "…I thought that might happen." She said, her voice oddly…calm? "You should regain sensation in that arm within the week. Until then, you should keep it in a sling."

Akko's brows shot up. "A week? Even with healing magic?"

"It was…a very bad bite." Diana said. "Your nerves need time to catch back up. Accelerated healing tends to have diminishing returns, after a certain point."

Something shifted in Akko's stomach. Between how disconnected from everything Diana was acting, and the entire idea of getting messed up so bad healing magic stopped doing enough for her, she really wasn't feeling her usual self right now.

A part of Akko still couldn't even process it. That entire thing just…just happened. Right out of nowhere. One second they're talking, the next some giant…monster thing is on top of them. On top of her arm. And now she was here. Apparently, hours later.

Still though. Whatever all that was, it was behind them now. Akko supposed she could get past it, for her friend's sake. She really didn't want to spend any more time being the weak link on this trip.

"W-well! Um, good thing you were there then, right?" Akko smiled. It was almost genuine. "Thanks for helping me, Diana!"

Diana didn't respond. She didn't even look up. She just continued staring at her feet.

Akko shifted, fighting the urge to pick at the bandages. "…I…I mean…you know, we…we make a pretty good team! From time to…time…"

And again, nothing. No response. Nothing to even acknowledge she heard. Diana was simply sitting on the edge of the bed like she was in her own world. Less than a meter away from her, but somehow more distant than Akko had ever seen her.

"…r-right, Diana?" Akko reached out to touch her shoulder, but as soon as her hand even came close, Diana's body tensed. So she was definitely _aware_ of Akko being there. But it was beginning to feel like…she just didn't care.

Akko's hand flopped back down to her lap. She hated this. She hated two of the people she cared about most seem so freaked out, especially when it was because of _her._ Even Andrew was acting out of it. He was always so aloof and confident, and now he was constantly shifting on his feet like he thought something was going to jump out at him.

He quietly took a step forward. "…Look, you two. I'm…sure you're both…out of sorts but…" He swallowed. "Trust me, there's a lot more going on here than we thought. I don't think we should be here."

"Y-yeah, I got…bit and…b-but it's not the end of the world, right?" Akko shrugged, hoping to diffuse some of the tension in the room. "I mean, sure, it kinda stinks not being able to move my arm and everything, but, hey! I've taken lots of bad bumps! What's one more?"

"That's…something, yeah." Andrew nodded mechanically. "But what I'm saying is, I don't think we're safe here at _all_. In this place in general. Those things…those ruins are cursed."

Diana finally looked up. "What?"

"The ruins are cursed." Andrew repeated. "I don't fully understand it, but they're designed to play off your fears. Destabilize you, make you afraid, mess you up." He turned to Akko. "That's what I was talking about when I was telling you about a…a weird vibe I got yesterday."

Akko thought for a moment. "…I think…I think I might've gotten a weird vibe last night too. Like a…weird…creepy, 'everything's gonna go wrong' vibe. Is that what you got?"

"In a nutshell, I guess that's accurate." Andrew admitted. "I was… _hoping_ to get there before it started affecting you two, but, well, you two have been sitting there for hours. And maybe you can resist it, being magic and all, but...either way. It's definitely cursed."

"Oh." Akko pursed her lips. "I mean…I...guess that makes some sense. The panther _did_ tell us to leave its home. Maybe that's why."

Andrew's brows furrowed. "The…the _panther_ told you…this?"

Akko nodded. "Yeah, it talked. It said that place was its home and that we had to leave. It was…weird."

"The panther _talked?_ W-what do you mean the panther talked? Why would the panth-?"He stopped, and sighed. "…You know what? Fine. I don't need to know. The panther talked. Fine."

Akko watched as he began to pace across the floor, muttering under his breath. "You alright, Andrew?"

"I don't think _any_ of us are 'alright,' Akko." Andrew ran a hand through his hair. "I know the least about curses out of the four of us, but being around something that…that messes with your mind like this…I think we need to get out here. Back to Europe before these…things seriously damage our minds or something."

Diana crossed her arms, clearly unconvinced. "What makes you so sure the ruins are cursed, Andrew?"

"Wh…" Andrew's eyes flicked between her face and Akko's arm. "What proof do you need? They're sealed ruins in the middle of the jungle guarded by a talking panther. That's not…that's not normal. That's not something that happens."

"But what makes you so _sure?_ " Diana asked tersely.

"A local told me." Andrew explained. "I went into town, met someone. We started talking about old witchcraft. She told me all about how old witches used to curse everything, use fear as a weapon to protect what's theirs."

"You're basing all this off of the words of some…random woman in town?"

"…Talking. Panther." Andrew deadpanned. "Just being near those things sent a chill down my spine, and now we find out Akko was attacked by…by _something_ out there, and both of you are _clearly_ out of sorts."

Diana glowered. "I told you, I'm fine."

"Oh, for the love of-" Andrew rolled his eyes. "Could you pick another time to be stubborn about this? Because right now, I'm this close to freaking out, and I _really_ don't need to start another stupid argument."

Akko was hardly an expert when it came to curses and the like. Usually she preferred to keep her distance from anything that could mess with her head or those of the people she cared about.

But maybe if she could do this right, she could impress Diana enough for them to get over whatever this whole thing was between them. She wouldn't outright _say_ that, of course. But surely if anyone could find a way to prove her worth here, it was Akko. The barest hint of a confident smile began to spread up her lip.

Akko swung her feet over the side of the bed and stood up. "If they are cursed, we gotta do something!"

"What?" Andrew gaped at her. "No! We absolutely do _not_ need to do something. We _need_ to leave it be."

Diana quickly stood from the bed and stepped in Akko's path, preventing her from taking another step. " _You're_ not doing anything, Akko." She leveled her with an icy stare. "You need to stay here, and let your arm heal."

Akko found herself shrinking under her intense gaze. "C-come on, Diana! We've been getting cursed by those things! We can't just…just ignore it!"

"We can, and we should." Andrew butted in. "We need to just get out of here, while we have the chance. If these things _are_ cursed, then we're putting ourselves at risk being around them."

"Well…what about _other_ people?" Akko asked. "If they're messing with our heads, they could mess with other people's heads too, right? We can probably do something to help!"

"What would the point be, Akko?" Diana arched a brow. "What would we gain from risking our necks like that, _again?_ Especially when you don't even have your wand in the same country?"

"Because I-! We…we can't…" Akko floundered. "B-because that's what real witches do! Aren't you always saying how we gotta use magic responsibly? How responsible is it if we see something like this and we just leave like nothing happened?"

"This has _nothing_ to do with _ethics_ , Akko." Diana pinched the bridge of her nose. "Do I need to remind you that you almost lost your arm?"

Akko felt the heat rise to her cheeks. "I only got bit because the thing was going to bite _you!_ I was trying to save you!"

"Regardless of that, you're in no position to help anyone right now." Diana took a deep breath through her nose, visibly struggling to keep her cool demeanor. "You could've _died_ last night. I'm not exaggerating. You're lucky to be alive right now. And you're going to stay in this house where it's safe."

But all Akko saw was Diana dismissing her, _again._ She could ignore a lot, and she has. But she was reaching her boiling point. " _You-!_ " Akko started. "-Could've died too, you know! It wasn't _my_ fault, alright? I didn't know there was a talking panther!"

A long, frustrated growl emanated from Diana's lips. "Are you just trying to get-?!" She stopped, and took a quick breath, and spoke much terser. "Why are so insistent on this? What is it going to take for you to just stop?"

"Because I don't _want_ to stop!" Akko argued. "A real witch wouldn't just-!"

She didn't get to finish before Diana turned on her. "A _real_ witch? Is that what this is about? Some meaningless platitude? Do you really think Shiny Chariot would go running headfirst into danger with no weapon to defend herself? No plan beyond sticking her nose where it doesn't belong?"

A sharp gasp escaped Akko's lips. She swore something in her just snapped in two. The words she had been hoping, so desperately, not to hear. But there it was, out in the air, just like she always feared.

"…Sticking her nose where it doesn't belong…?" Akko shook her head in disbelief. "…Is that what you think of me?"

Diana winced, pinching her eyes shut. "No, t-that's not what I meant."

"Then what _did_ you mean?" Akko's eyes narrowed, her voice shaking. "Cleary I don't know, so tell me what you meant."

Before Diana could retort, Andrew stepped between them. "I…you two need to stop. Just settle down, try to think clearly. We have to-"

But Akko simply shoved past him to point right in Diana's face. "I just wanted to help you, okay?! This whole trip, I just wanted to help! Help you with your stupid paper, help you actually relax! Help make sure _you_ weren't the one who ended up in a stupid sling! But I guess I'm just a big _burden_ on you, aren't I?!"

"That's _not_ what I said."

"But that's what you meant, isn't it?!" Akko yelled. "That I'm just distracting?! Just annoying?! Just make everything worse?!"

Diana's face turned red, and her blues eyes scanned around, as if desperate to escape. "J-just-"

"Akko, Diana!" Andrew butted in again. "This isn't you, alright? This is the curse! Just stop and-"

"Is it?" Akko glared at the two of them. "Because all this time I wanted to help, even _before_ we saw your stupid rocks! S-so what?! What am I supposed to think, Diana?"

Diana pinched her eyes shut once more, clutching her blonde hair. "I-I don't…"

But Akko was too angry to be moved by how distressed she was. Everything in her felt so pent up, and these answers were long overdue. Fear or not, she needed to know. "I just wanted to help! What am I supposed to do now? What am I-?"

And then Diana turned and shouted.

"Just leave me _alone_ , Akko!"

Silence hung over the room. The only sound any of them heard was Diana panting for breath. She turned back to the bed, hanging her head in her hand. She let out an exasperated sigh. "J-just stop. You can't help anyone. Stop trying to help me. Just…I can't do this right now."

As Akko glared, she felt tears pricking the corner of her eyes. She inhaled through her nose, clenching her fists at her side.

"…Fine."

Akko turned on her heels and started towards the bedroom door. Andrew said something to her, some meaningless placating words that Akko didn't bother to hear. She didn't want to hear them. Not from him, not anymore. Something pulled in her heart, and she looked over her shoulder.

But all she saw was Diana's back. The way she was refusing to look at her. She was standing there, blankly, uncaring. Just breathing in and out.

So Akko slammed the bedroom door behind her and left. Left the room, left the house, just left without even a clear direction on where she was going. She was too angry, too hurt to have any idea what to do anymore. All she knew was that something inside her told her to leave.

She winced as the rain outside pelted her skin. Part of her wondered if she should've at least grabbed a jacket to protect herself. Another part wondered if this was the curse playing with her mind again.

But still Akko kept moving. She didn't stop. Her steps didn't even slow down. She refused to stop. To look back. To do anything but continue trudging through the mud and rain. She walked down the hills, back towards the long path into town, as far away from the two as she could get. There was no point in staying. The whole reason she even wanted to come with on these trip was because she wanted to try and figure out where she stood with Diana.

Looks like she finally got her answer.

* * *

 _A.N. Yeesh._

 _I don't think any of these kids are taking the sudden genre shift from light romantic comedy to however you'd define this drama very well._

 _We still got a few mysteries to solve, don't we? Like how weird was it that there was that random old lady who seemed to know exactly what to say to get under Andrew's skin? That was weird, right? And yeah, there's probably a story behind that panther. Hope there is, since it's still out there…in the wilds…even now…?_


	5. And a Stormy Afternoon

Andrew could only watch helplessly from the window as Akko slammed the front door and walked out towards town.

Of course he wanted to stop her. Of course he wanted to keep this from spiraling into an even greater disaster than it already was. But what could he do? Maybe he could've physically restrained her, but what would that have solved?

And as much as he would've liked to deny it, there was nothing he could've said. Nothing that would've meant anything. She may have been his best friend, but he wasn't the one she wanted to talk to. And he was seriously not sure if Diana was in any place to help anyone right now. She looked close to her breaking point as is.

He sighed, rubbing the corners of his eyes. Tired and anxious was not a good combo. Half of him wanted to sleep after standing around in almost silence, waiting for Akko to wake up. And the other half felt like staying anywhere within the same district as this place was liable to get him killed. Everything felt at odds with everything.

And the old, selfish, Andrew still in him found the entire thing unfair. He had only been near the ruins for minutes, and still hours later, all he could think about was losing all the pieces of his life that allowed him to be better, to be more. No one had ever encouraged him to follow his own dreams quite like Akko did. And for as much as they butted heads, he knew no one understood how mentally exhausting the so-called high-life was quite like how Diana did.

And still, all he wanted to do was run and hide. And still, he wondered if that was pragmatism, or the habits of the self-centered rich boy who wouldn't even touch a piano if it would displease father.

He looked up, and couldn't help but note that Diana did not, when Dr. Darío Santillo stepped into the room, looking extremely befuddled. "Hey, I heard yelling. What's all the commotion in here? You all alright? "

Between the bags under Andrew's eyes, and Diana's rigid posture as she stared down a blank wall, the answer to his final question was obvious. "What happened to _you_ two?" His brows furrowed. "And where's Akko?"

"Akko…was hurt last night. Attacked." Andrew said simply. Best not to go into details, for Diana's sake. "We…we had an argument, and...Akko stormed out."

" _Attacked?_ " The doctor repeated. "This wasn't by the ruins, was it? I told you kids that place wasn't safe."

Before Andrew could say anything, the despondent Diana spoke up first, still facing the wall. "You did." She admitted under her breath. "And it was my fault Akko left."

"Diana…" Andrew sighed. "Don't do this to yourself."

"It _was_ my fault, Andrew." Diana insisted, turning to face him. Her face still blank, but visibly closer to breaking. "I was the one who told her to leave. I…I didn't want her to…I just wanted her to leave the room. But I couldn't…I messed up and…"

She stopped herself, with an exhausted groan escaping her lips. It was not a sound she intended to make, but Andrew knew full well that Akko brought out sides of her she had no control over. He just never knew how far those sides could go. She took another deliberate moment before she trusted herself to speak.

"…regardless of anything." She began anew. "I need to go out after her. If this weather doesn't let up, she could catch a cold. Her immune system might be weakened after all…that."

"A cold?" Andrew arched a brow. "Is that _really_ what you're concerned about?"

"It's the most immediate concern." Diana said, simply and quickly. "That's…the most immediate concern. It takes priority."

The doctor tapped his chin for a moment. "…Man. Hope Akko's okay. She seemed like a nice girl." He turned to face the still-blank Diana. "Sorry your expedition didn't go the way you thought it might."

"It's my own fault." Diana said, turning on her heels towards her suitcase. "I was warned and I ignored it. Nothing else matters. Not until I find Akko."

"I understand." The doctor said. "Believe me, I do. You need to protect the things that are important to you. I'll help you find her, if I can. After that, I can…I dunno, get you kids home, if you need it."

Diana didn't respond, but instead turned to her suitcase and dug out a thick rain jacket. As she began to fasten it up, Andrew walked over to her.

"Before you go." He took his phone from his pocket and placed it in her hand. "Just in case. You can call the landline here, if you need help or…you need something from me. I'm staying, just in case Akko comes back."

Diana was silent for a moment, before placing the phone secure in her own pocket. "…Thank you."

Andrew nodded. "I know Akko can be…emotional sometimes. But she's always been forgiving, hasn't she? Even when _we_ mess up with her. I'm sure you and her will be okay, once you talk things out."

Diana didn't say anything, and Andrew honestly hadn't expected her to. She fastened up her coat, brushed her hair back and pulled up the hood.

The doctor cleared his throat. "So I know the town pretty well. Maybe we can split up and cover more ground. I mean, she can't have gotten _too_ far, so if we just-"

Before the doctor even finished the sentence, Diana had walked out the door. "…Okay." He scratched his neck. "I…I guess she knows where she's going. She always seemed like a smart one…"

"Just…give her a little leeway, please." Andrew said. "She can be closed-off on even her best days, and this…this is definitely not one of those. She means well. She always does."

"…Right." The doctor nodded, before turning back to Andrew. "Either way, stay safe, alright kid? I'd rather not see anyone else get hurt here."

With that, the doctor walked out, leaving Andrew in the house alone.

* * *

As the day went on, the weather devolved from a light drizzle to a true downpour. The rain was coming down hard, and it was coming down fast. Akko was all but forced to duck into an old bus stop to gain a moments relief. She ran a hand though her wet hair, and found herself bitterly noting she could only do it with one hand. Because she messed up.

Akko sniffed as she sat down on the bench under the canopy. She hadn't known where she was going in the first place, but now she couldn't even keep moving. She had nowhere left to run to. She was stuck in a bus station, stuck in a sling, and stuck with nothing but her one working arm and her own thoughts, filled with the last things she wanted to think about.

She clenched the sling's strap as angry tears continued to spill from her eyes. There was no denying it now. Maybe it _was_ just the ruins bringing out her worst side, but did it really matter where it came from, if it was true? She didn't belong on this trip. She had tried everything she could think of to prove otherwise, and no matter what she did, she couldn't change that fact. She was the outsider.

It wasn't fair. Maybe if Diana had never gone on this stupid trip, Akko could've at least continued to delude herself into thinking they were equals. Ignorance is bliss. Maybe she could've pretended all the sideways looks Anna and Daryl always gave her was because they were jerks, and not because they had a point.

"…Stupid ruins." Akko rubbed her eyes with her fist. "Stupid, stupid ruins…"

What does she do now? Where does she go from here?

She was in a bus stop, wasn't she? She could just stay here, wait for the bus and just…leave Diana behind. Why not? That's what she told her to do, and Akko had proved without a shadow of a doubt that she was not up to the task of being with her.

What future did they even have together? Did she even _want_ to live that high life Diana did, and Andrew did? All those butlers and maids and servants, all the overly big houses and mansions and jets and estates where she stuck out like a sore thumb.

Her only real attraction to that kind of lifestyle was that Diana and Andrew lived like that. And they were always on about proving themselves and their worth and their legacy, and Akko knew she would hate having to constantly test herself day in day out like they did. Especially when someone as small and simple as her had no chance against heads of state and aristocrats. Just stay here, and find a way to get home on her own.

But being with Diana made her happy. Even if Diana could be snooty and closed-off and grumpy, Akko still cared about her. And even when she told her to shove off, Akko still cared about her. Akko didn't _want_ to break things off. They were girlfriends. The thought of having to break things off with Diana hurt to even think about.

So then what else could she do? She could go back to the house. Patch things up with Diana. Apologize for leaving. Do what she said and just lay low and stay in Darío's home where she'd be safe. Then she'd be able to stay with the girl she loved, find ways to support her. And she could still be friends with Andrew too.

But she only patches things up with Diana by virtue of accepting her own mediocrity. She's still the odd one out, still the awkward nobody palling around in a world that's too big for her.

Her whole dream, of inspiring people and making them smile like Shiny Chariot did for her had always seemed so big and grand, but what in the world was that against restoring lineages that went back thousands of years or managing entire sections of countries?

Nothing changed. She's right back to where she was at the ruins, at the airstrip, right back to where she started. Nothing's fixed, nothing's equalized. She's still not enough. That wasn't a solution either. That was just…nothing.

But those were her options. It was completely unfair, but there was nothing she could do. Either she goes back to the house and lives knowing she'll never be good enough, always be second-best, or she outright gives up on her friends and leaves with nothing to show for it.

All her life Akko had followed the mantra of a believing heart being her magic, and this was a complete betrayal of the philosophy that came to define her. Her so-called believing heart either ended up being not enough or being something she had to break.

She pinched her eyes shut as more tears threatened to spill. Crying wasn't solving anything. Maybe letting it all out felt good in the short term, but she still didn't have a solution. Except she did, and she couldn't pick either because both of them hurt.

What she wouldn't give, for a sign or something to come help her. Take the choice out of her hands. Because even with a fifty-fifty chance, she was sure she'd get it wrong.

* * *

Diana tried not to think how familiar this whole situation felt.

On the one hand, the thick sheets of rain coming relentlessly down did give the one advantage of clearing out any potential crowds. The streets were utterly deserted, which may make it easier for her to spot Akko out here somewhere.

But on the other, searching for Akko, when she was hurt and lost somewhere in this oppressive weather, it was almost too much for her heart to handle. And this time she wouldn't be able to come as a friend. She was the aggressor, coming to ask for forgiveness.

She didn't know what to do afterwards, even assuming Akko _would_ forgive her. And somehow, that stabbed her heart even more. Aimlessly wandering into town, with no plan, no end-goal, no idea of what she could even _say_ …she hated it. She hated the feeling. S _he_ was supposed to be the one who had all the answers, who knew what to do to fix anything. But she didn't have them, she didn't know, and she hated it.

But regardless of anything, Diana knew she had to find Akko. Maybe she would've felt more comfortable were she in a position where she could think three steps ahead with her every action mapped out, but she had no delusion in pretending otherwise. For Akko, she would keep going.

She kept brushing the damp hair off her forehead, and blinking away the water from her lashes as she glided across the sidewalk. Through squinted eyes, she kept scanning the streets, looking for any sign of Akko. There were only a few people scattered here and there, and none of them was the girl she was looking for.

She only stopped when she heard an aged, feminine voice addressing her. "Oh my, young lady, are you alright?"

Under an awning of an old antique shop was an old woman, with long silver curls and tanned, wrinkled skin. "Look at that long face you have, dearie." The woman smiled sympathetically. "You look like someone's who's lost her last friend."

Diana did what she could to ignore the pain in her chest. "I…yes, well…" She cleared her throat, failing to keep the emotion from her voice. "I'm…I'm looking for someone right now, a girl. I don't…I-I need to find her."

"A girl, hmm?" The woman hummed to herself. "There's a lot of sweet, little girls around here. Some of the young ones I meet are just the kindest little things."

"I'm not…!" Diana started, before taking another deep breath. She couldn't lose herself again. "No, I'm not looking for a child. It's a girl my age. Japanese, auburn hair, arm in a sling. Have you seen her or not?"

The woman simply cackled. "Goodness, you don't need to work yourself up, dearie. I think you may have just come to the right place."

"Right place…?" Diana's eyes widened. "Wait, have you seen her? Has she been by here?"

The woman gestured towards the glass door to the shop. Diana glanced through the window, but the lights were off. It was too dark to see inside. But at the same time, the privacy of sitting alone in the dark might've just appealed to someone who wanted to be alone. The old woman was, essentially, just standing guard in front of the shop, and giving a sad girl her space was reason enough. And if Akko _was_ in here, then she was safe and warm, not getting soaking wet.

So without missing a beat, Diana rushed past her to the entrance. The bell rung as she swung the door open wide, and for a moment, a much more hopeful emotion managed to break through her blank exterior.

But the shop was empty.

"…There's no one here." Diana deflated.

The old woman followed her into the shop, grunting with effort with every heavy step of her aged bones. "We needed to get you out of the rain." She said, with a kind smile. "Look at you, you're a mess. You're shaking like a leaf."

Diana glanced down to see her hands shaking. She clenched her fists, and forced them to stop. She took a deep breath. She wouldn't let her fear show, and she definitely wouldn't let her anger show. "…My apologies, _Miss._ But I don't have the time for games right now. My friend-" She paused. "…Someone who means the world to me is in need of help. So unless you know where she is, please don't waste my time."

The old woman didn't even acknowledge the harsh edge Diana failed to keep out of her tone. "You're awfully stressed out, for someone so young. You won't be able to help anyone if you get sick out there."

"And what if Akko gets sick out there?" Diana snapped, before she could stop herself. "What if she gets sick while I'm wasting my time in here? After it was _my_ fault that she's out here in the first place?"

Diana flinched as the old woman reached out to set a hand on her shoulder. "It sounds to me like you're blaming yourself for anything and everything. It seems silly, doesn't it? Taking the world on your shoulders? You're just a little girl. You can't control the way the world works, can you?"

Diana found herself flushing. It was just simple words, but they were pointed enough to stab through her, no matter how much she tried to control herself. Despite everything, this random woman off the street seemed to be able to read her like a book. And the knowledge that she couldn't even keep her head around a complete stranger sent a chill down her spine.

"I…I didn't say I _did_." She stuttered. "But that…that doesn't matter. I don't have time for this. I need to _go_. I need to go _now_."

"Oh…" The old woman sighed sadly. "I suppose I understand. I was hoping I could find a way to help a poor young thing like yourself. You just…seemed like you needed it."

Diana bristled. "I don't need help."

It was a lie. She knew it was a lie. And she got the impression the old woman knew it just as well as her. But she had to stand by it. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was at her breaking point. Andrew knew. Dr. Santillo knew. Everyone seemed to know, and she couldn't stop herself.

So she had to keep going. Keep lying, keep pushing everything down, keep doing everything except admitting it aloud. Diana spun on her heels to the door, looking out the glass window just as a cloud flashed. Akko was somewhere out in this storm, and she wasn't going to wait around another second.

If she hesitated, she was going to lose herself. If not for her own sake, or her mother's sake, or their family's sake, then for _Akko's_ sake, she couldn't let herself hesitate.

* * *

Andrew pulled the hood further down his forehead as he continued to pace around outside. The old Appleton sweatshirt hardly qualified as a rain jacket, but it was the only thing he had thought to pack. The cloth was getting soaked through, and his hair was damp against his head.

But he couldn't justify just sitting around the house. It felt too much like the _old_ Andrew. He did make sure not to stray too far, just in case Diana needed help and decided to call. He was reasonably sure he would've been able to hear the landline from inside, so he was still doing that part of his job. He wanted to be proactive and contribute something, but the closest thing he found was to patrol the perimeter of the house in the completely unlikely event he might be able to spot Akko somewhere.

The illusion of being useful. All he had going for him right now.

It was about the third lap around the yard of the isolated little house that Andrew truly took notice of the doctor's car. It was an old jeep, and he wasn't enough of a car buff to place the model or the exact year, but he'd guess it was older. Either something the doctor had kept for many years or something he had picked up second-hand.

But it didn't strike him until now that they probably _should've_ taken this thing out to find Akko. Why hadn't he thought of it before? He didn't know if Diana had her license or not, hadn't really bothered to ask, but if nothing else, _he_ could've taken this. Cover ground much faster, and keep dry to boot.

The doors were unlocked, but the keys were, obviously not left in the vehicle. If the doctor wasn't using it, he _could_ take the jeep out himself. It would help his anxiety a lot more than standing around here doing nothing.

…No, he can't just leave the house, can he? If Diana called or the doctor came back with Akko, he needed to be there for them. All he wanted to do right now was run, but he already decided he needed to be _here_ for his friends. And that was that. Hindsight is everything it would seem. Shaking his head, Andrew figured it'd be best to go back inside for the moment. He wasn't doing anyone any good getting himself soaking wet.

Just as he was about to step back onto the porch and back inside he happened to glance over to see light reflecting off…something in the bushes.

Furrowing his brow, Andrew took a step over to inspect. There were two round objects glistening behind the plant leaves, and it almost looked as though they were floating in mid-air. It was too dark to truly tell what they were. Like two shimmering orbs floating in a jet-black void.

Peering even closer, the area around the orbs was darker than everything else around it. He could see the grass on the jungle floor everywhere else, but around the orbs, and only the orbs, it was just black.

And even stranger was the way the orbs would…disappear for a fraction of a second. The motion of it was peculiar. It was a quick flash. Like they were…maybe…blinking…?

"…Oh god."

Andrew scrambled backwards just as the panther's claw ripped through the air where his head had been seconds prior.

The panther leapt from the bushes fully, and Andrew got a good look at the creature's pure size. Like a mountain of black fur and muscle. As panic began to grip his mind, only one rational thought remained. This thing got past two witches, one of which was armed with a wand and powerful magic. He had nothing. No backup, no weapon, absolutely nothing.

He was going to die. That was it. He was going to die here.

Andrew turned and ran, ran as fast as his legs could carry him. His eyes locked on the front door. He had to make it inside the house. He _had_ to make it.

He didn't make it.

Not before the panther pounced. Its claws just barely missed shredding his back to pieces. But one just managed to snag his hood, flapping behind him. As it was ripped off his sweatshirt, Andrew was pulled down to the ground with a strangled gasp.

As his head splashed down on the wet grass, he opened his eyes to see the panther closing in on him. Its mouth opened wide to let out a growl, displaying an arsenal of jagged teeth and fangs.

Andrew, slowly and deliberately, crawled backwards. Careful not to make sudden movements, anything to incite the panther to maul him any faster than it was already planning to. But for every little movement he made, the panther took another step forward, never breaking its gaze from his. As if relishing the growing horror on his face.

He backed up a little further, only to find himself with his back to the bumper of the doctor's jeep. Which meant he had nowhere else to go. There was no way he could get to his feet before the panther could maul him.

He could only watch as the massive creature took another slow step forward.

* * *

Few people, much less any of the three foreign students who had flown in from England, paid much heed to the skies of the Petén region of Guatemala in the later hours of the afternoon. Dark clouds blotted out the sky, showing no signs of letting up before the day was through.

Within one of the grey clouds, light began to flash. And from the edge of the town, on the vaguely defined border between modern civilization and the aged forests and jungles, any who bothered to look up from the rain coming straight down could see a scraggly line, pure white and glowing, as it silently shot forth from the sky to strike the distant waters of the lake Petén Itzá.

Five seconds passed.

And then another half.

Then came the sound. The thunder. Its already mighty sound amplified by sheer proximity to the town. It was a deafening and debilitating crack, a veritable gunshot that utterly drowned out every other noise for kilometers away. And the sound of the single strike of thunder was heard across the town.

* * *

The panther flinched as the crack of thunder echoed through the sky.

Perhaps its ears were more sensitive than Andrew's. Or perhaps it had simply not been expecting the sudden noise to interrupt its hunt. But it didn't matter in the slightest. The hesitation gave Andrew the few precious seconds he needed to act.

With a grunt, and all the strength he could muster, he kicked the massive creature right in the throat. It staggered back, and as it choked, Andrew scrambled to his feet and darted around the side of the car.

He was out of breath. Dizzy. Exhausted. But if he didn't keep moving…

Just as he began running back toward the front door, the panther jumped atop the car and pounced right at him. He skidded to a stop, just barely avoiding slipping on the slick mud beneath his shoes, and the quick, imprecise movement was the only thing that made the creature miss him entirely.

But before Andrew could take a single step forward, the panther circled back. Standing between him and the house.

All Andrew could do was take a slow step backwards. There was no point in running. This thing was too fast. He'd never outrun it in the open. He glanced to his side, at the driver's side door of the jeep. If only the keys were inside.

An idea struck him. He locked eyes with the panther once again, gauging its slow, deliberate steps. As subtly as he could, he reached over to the car handle. As soon as his fingers touched it, the panther roared.

Andrew watched as the panther reared back, trying to ignore his heart hammering in his chest. Only one chance at this. If he messed this up, he would be dead.

Time almost seemed to slow down. The panther bent its legs, sinking low to the ground. And then it pushed off, springing into the air. It shot forth like a black streak, its claws aimed right for his face. His fingers tightened around the handle, and at the last moment, he yanked it open in front of him like a shield.

The panther had no time to react before it crashed into the open door suddenly in its path. It hit with a visceral crunch. The door was ripped from its hinges by the creature's sheer girth. Andrew just barely managed to step back in time as the metal and glass exploded in every direction.

The impact winded the panther, and it limply tried to stand to its feet atop the broken door. But winded was all the impact had done, and Andrew ran back towards the house before the creature could fully recover.

He sprinted with everything he had left in him. He didn't dare look back. Didn't dare waste the time. The front porch was only meters away. He pinched his eyes shut and just ran. His life depended on it.

Had to get inside. Had to get the car keys.

Between his own pants for breath, the rain pelting everything around him and the sound of his rapid footsteps splashing across the grass, he just barely made out the sound of broken metal being pressed into the mud by a creature's paw as it turned to face him. Then it roared.

His hand grabbed the doorknob just as he heard the panther begin running after him.

* * *

Diana jumped at the sudden crack of thunder. She already felt like she was walking on eggshells, and the noise had completely blindsided her.

It had been a noise. Just a noise. Something stupid, insignificant, meaningless, mundane, _nothing_. And she hadn't been prepared for it. And as she stood frozen, watching the rain come ceaselessly down, she realized that was the truth. She hadn't been prepared for it. Maybe it was the ruins talking, maybe it was the fact that everything that happened on this trip was her fault, but she realized she hadn't been prepared for anything outside this door.

It was a just a noise. But it had been enough. She hesitated.

And all at once, reality crashed down on her. The world had rested on her shoulders, and as she fell to her knees, it tipped and shattered across the floor. It hurt to stand, hurt to breathe, hurt to think, it just hurt and it kept on hurting.

Dr. Santillo warned her about the creatures and she said she'd handle it. Andrew warned her the place was dangerous and she said she'd handle it. Her own rational mind, her own _instincts_ , had warned her that if she let someone in, let someone even the slightest bit past her defenses and opened up even the smallest crack, then the armor she hid behind for so long was forever compromised and she'd _never_ get that security back.

She let Akko in. She fell in love and dated her and she said to herself she could handle it.

Akko was out there alone in the storm and it was her fault. All this was her fault. She thought she could control this situation and now her life was slipping through her fingers like she was trying to hold on to grains of sand. No matter how much she grabbed and grabbed it kept slipping through that crack in her armor she made herself because Akko was that important. And because Akko was that important, she couldn't move, and she couldn't bring herself to even stand.

So she fell to her knees, hands over her mouth, biting back tears harder than ever. Even more than at the ruins, she wanted to cry, and even more than at the ruins, she knew she couldn't, because she wasn't sure she could ever regain enough control to stop.

"Oh my!" The old woman bent down to her level, on the water-stained wood floor in some antique shop in a country miles away from anywhere she could call home. "Are you alright? What's the matter?"

"I don't know…" Diana mumbled into her hands. "I…I just don't know anymore. I don't know. I don't know."

It was one more lie. She knew what the matter was now. The only thing, the _only thing_ , she seemed to be able to do anymore was stop herself from crying, and she was losing control of that too.

"You seem like you're scared." The old woman said, with a soft smile.

Diana couldn't bring herself to answer.

"You know what helps me when I get scared? I think it helps to talk about it."

And all Diana could do was meekly agree. Maybe she could talk to this woman. Maybe that would help.

* * *

Akko yelped as she was snapped from her thoughts by the thunder. She gasped for the breath that had been stolen from her. It was hard to tell if she was shaky because of the curse, or how utterly pointless she felt. Or both.

She still didn't know what to do. Which of the two paths to choose. With a lonely sigh, she glanced up at the dark clouds, watching the light flash inside.

And suddenly a third option presented itself. She didn't want to give up on her desires, but she could never reach the same level as Diana or Andrew. So if she couldn't bring herself _up,_ why not bring their level _down?_

The ruins were the cause of all her problems, after all. Literally and metaphorically. Fancy academics that were far beyond her, all those ancient, old-timey traditions that people like Diana and Andrew obsessed over. The fact that they were inciting fear in people was just the icing on the cake.

So if the ruins were the cause of all her problems, then if they were to be destroyed, that solved everything, didn't it? The curse would be broken, and the fear would all disappear. She, Andrew, Diana, heck even Darío would all be on equal footing. The subject of Diana's all important paper was gone, along with one more little thing that kept Akko down and separated her from everyone else.

And as Akko stood to her feet, she smiled. She knew exactly how to do it too. Darío had even given her the answer to destroy the things, in his anecdote on how his grandfather, had managed to crack open the shell around the ruins, and how lucky they were that his idol's accident had happened the way it did without harming the ruins. She just needed to do something similar, except this time, make sure it happened _her_ way.

Lightning. The thing that broke open the shell was lightning.

* * *

 _A.N. Haven't written a long boy like this one in a while. This was a way too ambitious chapter, to be honest, considering the original plan was to have Diana and the old woman have their talk here, but it was too important to be shorted, and I didn't totally want a 6000K chapter if I can avoid it. Also wanted to do more with the doc before Diana ignores him and goes her own way, but eh. Again this is already long._

 _So everyone else's fears have been pretty spelled out, but hopefully this should clear up what exactly Diana fears more than anything. It's not losing people, and it's not failure. Because of course, I wanted their fears to be something driving even their more innocent actions, even back in Chapter one._

 _Her refusing to accept the ruins affecting her is less arrogance and more of a control mechanism she clings to. And you can see Diana's need for control in how quick she is to brush off help and avoid Akko's embarrassing antics. And I always got the sense that's what drove a lot of her actions within the series proper._


	6. One Last Night

It took Akko a while to get back to the house.

For one thing, she had not felt 100% since half her arm got chewed up by a talking panther. Even riding the emotional high she had from her argument with Diana, she had barely even gotten that far from the house in the first place.

The weather slowed her down, even more. The rain was relentless, the distant rumble of thunder was constantly looming overhead. It was dark, gloomy, and wet. Getting anywhere fast was impossible.

But she couldn't wait for the storm to pass. She needed the storm. This was her big chance to set things right, and she couldn't let the chance pass her by.

No, she had to find some archeological equipment in Darío's house, something that could attract the lightning in a way that wasn't going to get her hurt any more, but could still sufficiently destroy these ruins where they stood. She had hoped to find something on the way back from the bus station. A shovel, a pole, anything big and metal that could conduct electricity, but it seemed like luck was just not on her side tonight.

"Thought the girl already down an arm…" Akko muttered to herself. She adjusted the sling around her shoulder, shuddering as the rain continued to pound down on her. She made a mental note to grab a new shirt when she got inside.

But finally, after who knows _how_ long, Akko walked up the hill to come face to face with Darío's secluded house. A sigh of relief escaped her throat. She couldn't wait to get out of this rain, even if it was just for a few minutes.

With just a little more bounce in her step, Akko made her way to the front door, which was already hanging open. She gladly stepped inside the doorway and rung out her hair. And that was about when she noticed the detached car door on the lawn.

It was almost hard to even recognize as a car door, considering it was crumpled like a soda can, and the window itself was in shards everywhere, laying in the mud. But it was the same color as the jeep Darío brought them here in. Which, now that Akko looked around, wasn't here.

Her brows furrowed. What in the world had ripped the door off the hinges like that? And what happened to the rest of the car? She hadn't exactly memorized where Darío had parked, but she couldn't see any sign of the vehicle.

And not to mention, his _house_ door was hanging open too. This one wasn't damaged, but it was still unlocked. Akko stuck her head inside the house and called out.

"Hello…?"

She waited, listening for the sound of someone rustling in another room, or for someone to call back. And when no one did, she called out again. "Andrew? Diana?" Akko yelled, her voice echoing back at her through the halls of doctor's old home. "…Darío? Anyone home?"

Nothing. Not a sound.

Which made Akko even more worried. The car was gone, but the door to it was still here. Meanwhile the house was unlocked, but no one was home. What happened when she was gone? Were her friends okay? Was Diana okay?

She almost wasn't even sure if she wanted to go inside anymore. And it was hard to tell if that was common sense, or if the indecisiveness came from the ruins playing tricks on her mind. She had no idea what to do about curses.

But, no. She _did_ know what to do about the situation she was in right now. She had to go in, find something to use as a lightning rod, and get rid of the ruins once and for all. There was no telling how long this storm would last, which put her on a time limit. Which meant anytime she spent _thinking_ about what to do was wasting time.

Gathering her courage, Akko pushed through the front door and entered the house.

* * *

No matter how many supposedly 'calming' breaths Diana took, it did nothing to stop the feeling of being torn in half. Her body still felt like it was at war with itself. Her skin felt electric, and her every nerve felt alive. Her stomach was heavy. Her mind felt like it was being pulled tighter and tighter. Everything was either overwhelmingly too much or not nearly enough. Everything was moving, pulling, screaming, suffocating.

The only way she could find to compensate for everything and nothing all at once was to sit still.

She had already fallen to her knees, when her guilt over allowing this, _any_ of this, to happen finally hit her all at once, and she had only gotten up just enough to sit in a more meditative pose, as if it had been something she had deliberately meant to do. She sat still on the creaky wood floor, and watched as the droplets of water fell from her bangs onto her lap.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

As if everything else wasn't enough, the silence of it all was maddening. The old woman had been so insistent on talking to her, apparently to alleviate her fear. But she was simply standing above her. Just…watching her, without a word. She had never been one to shrink under the public eye, but something about this old woman just struck her as eerie.

Diana glanced up, with a pensive look. She was too tired to be demanding, but she tried. "Who are you?"

The old woman didn't answer. She was drinking coffee out of a paper cup. Diana had been too busy trying to deny her terror to even notice when or where she got it.

"You said you wanted to talk, correct?" Diana asked. "So…talk then. Who are you? What do you want?"

A dissonant smile spread up the old woman's cheeks. Between her absent-minded gaze and her vaguely amused attitude, she gave the sense she was less interacting with another human being and more watching a show unfold before her. "You know, you really shouldn't worry so much. You're just a little girl, after all. You'll get wrinkles like mine!"

Diana bristled, the heat rising to her cheeks. "I'm _not_ a little girl. I haven't been a 'little girl' for many years. And why _shouldn't_ I be worried?" She stood, and gestured to the window, at the rain steadily coming down. "She's out there, in _that._ And I'm responsible for…for all of this. Of course I'm concerned."

The woman, who had still yet to give any sort of name for herself, took another sip of coffee. "Don't you love little stores like this?" She absently mused to herself. "I wish this place had chairs. I would love to sit in here for hours. Just people-watching. Watching everyone milling about, just going about their lives. Don't you just love getting to meet people?"

Diana stared for a moment, before shaking her head. "…What am I even doing here?" She mumbled. "This conversation isn't solving anything. I need to be back out there, finding Akko. I need to apologize for the way I acted, and for getting her hurt."

She stood, and started for the door. But before her hand could even reach out, she was startled by the woman suddenly cackling, loud and unabashed.

"You two obviously aren't from around here, are you? Certainly a bad decision to go running around in this kind of weather, in a completely foreign country. It certainly seems childish when you look at it, doesn't it?"

"It wasn't her fault." Diana's eyes narrowed. "She was hurt, and then all this…business with curses came at the worst time. She needed to rest and recover, but instead she gets her head filled with these grand ideas of helping people and putting herself in more risk."

Which wasn't even getting into how poorly Diana herself handled the situation. The guilt squeezed at her heart, and once again, she felt like she was being torn in half. She clenched her fists at her sides, trying to regain some level of rationality.

"She sounds like a very troublesome person." The old woman hummed to herself. "I can't imagine why someone as serious as yourself would keep her around."

"Don't talk about her like that." Diana snapped, turning from the door to glare at the woman. "Yes, Akko has her faults, but so does everyone else."

The old woman raised her hand innocently. "Oh, I'm not trying to be insulting, you know! I'm just wondering why you would even bring her with, is all. An old lady can be curious, you know!"

Diana crossed her arms. "I…I didn't want her to come on this trip." She admitted, before she could stop herself. "Except…except a part of me _did._ It made her happy, and…that was enough. And even just…having her next to me makes me feel…lighter. It's hard not to take it for granted, but…just having her _be_ there, just being herself…it's like bringing with a little piece of…"

She trailed off, unable to finish. Somehow, her resolve seemed to keep dying. She thought it was the curse. She hoped it was. She really did, because at least then she had an excuse.

She had spent her whole life preparing for everything. She had prepared herself to succeed her mother and her aunt as the head of her estate. She had prepared to become the prestigious kind of witch that everyone deferred to and relied on. She had prepared to take the world on her shoulders and carry it every day for the rest of her life. It was never going to be easy, and she knew that, and she had prepared for it to be difficult.

But she hadn't prepared to find someone and be happy.

She listened as the sky growled in the distance, and hid in her had. "Thunder. That's what it took to break me just now." She muttered to herself. ""I used to be able to handle anything. I got past every bit of my aunt trying to eat my family's legacy from the inside out, all the people leaving and mocking and downsizing the Cavendish estate, every professor with every menial task they needed _me_ to help with…and… _thunder_."

The woman took a sip of her coffee. "See?" She smiled. "You're getting it. Keep going. Keep talking."

Diana hugged her arms closer to her chest. "…This whole trip made me realize how fragile it all is. How much of my happiness is tied up in someone else. I think that's…that's why I need to find her…because if I don't…"

"I understand." The old woman's face hardened. "It's a tough choice to make. If you _do_ , then suddenly you're back at square one, and you never get to have that security again. But if you don't…well…"

"That's not what I'm…" Diana started, but quickly found herself unable to finish. "…Obviously I can't leave her here alone. That's…that's crazy. Even if I _do_ need to decide to…first, I need to get her back to Dr. Santillo's house before I do anything…drastic."

"Dr. Santillo?" The woman's brows shot up her wrinkled forehead. "Oh…now there's a name I haven't thought about in a long time…"

Diana glanced up. "You…know the doctor?"

"Oh, we never met personally." The woman waved her hand. "But I remember hearing so much about him. Such a cheerful young child. So impressionable, so kind-hearted. He was the type of man who wanted to help the whole world if he could. Such a handful, when one's trying to focus. I always cut those people out of my life."

Diana's eyes fell down to her feet. Somehow…everything about this woman made her feel…useless. Small, and insecure.

The woman continued regardless. "Ah, but he had his good points. As I remember…oh yes, he loved animals. I just remember his favorite pets were always… _cats_."

Diana looked up as the woman drawled out the word. "…What do you mean by that?"

"Oh heavens. It's getting rather dark, isn't it?" The woman glanced out the window. She started towards the door, only for Diana to step in her path.

"Wait." She demanded. "What do you mean by that? Are you saying…Dr. Santillo has something to do with…?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know!" The woman cackled. "I don't go by that side of town, after all! Now, if you'll excuse me…"

Diana stood her ground. "I'm serious, Miss. If you're saying there's some sort of relationship between the doctor and that wild animal, I _need_ to know. It's a matter of-"

The woman set a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, how many times must I keep _saying_ it, Diana? You're just one little girl. You can't possibly control everything, no matter how hard you try. Now don't you have someone you should be looking for?"

"The doctor…" Diana deflated. "He…he couldn't have…"

"That seems like the kind of choice a nice girl like you should make." The woman mused to herself. "Go out and find your friend, I think…"

The woman brushed past her, quietly humming to herself. Diana suddenly felt like her feet were glued to the ground. As the old woman opened the door and left, the only sound Diana heard was the creaking of wood and the rain pelting against the shop window.

That…didn't make sense. None of this made sense. Santillo couldn't possibly be related to that thing…that was…

That was psychotic.

But the old woman's comments about cats couldn't be coincidental. Not only a _day_ after Akko was attacked by that panther creature. She had been so insistent on getting her to talk with her. Was she trying to warn her, then? Was _that_ her angle?

She thought it over, and the more she played with the idea of Santillo knowing that panther, the more it made a sick, disturbing amount of sense.

Santillo lived less than a kilometer from the ruins, yet he was never attacked. All the warnings he gave, all the times he insisted that she needed to turn back and rethink what she was doing, yet he seemed completely calm just sitting out there by the ruins.

Yet the very first night Diana set up camp, and less than an hour after the doctor left…and it called it its home…so close to where Santillo lived…

She burst out the door into the pouring rain.

But to where, she didn't know. She still had no idea where Akko was in this town. But she couldn't keep running on a wild goose chase. She had been so stupid...so utterly stupid. She didn't know.

She was terrified. A part of her wanted to find Akko first, but everything she learned from the old woman told her she needed to find the doctor, and stop him before it was too late. She had to make a choice. She had to…to…

She had to head back towards the house.

If she found Akko on the way, she needed to make sure she stayed as far away from the house as possible. If she didn't find her on the way, then she needed stop Santillo before he had a chance to hurt anyone else. The end result was the same. She had to get there before Akko.

If Akko went back, unaware of what was going on, she was going to get killed.

But Diana had barely even gotten a block from the antique store before a car screeched to a halt in the street in front of her, cutting her off before she could go anywhere else. It took her a moment to place it, especially considering the driver's side door was completely gone. Her eyes could only widen as she finally recognized it as Santillo's jeep.

* * *

Akko couldn't help but note that Darío's house was completely silent. She had gone straight into the guestroom, hoping to find Andrew, or the doctor, or _someone_ , but the house proved to be totally empty.

But then, all three of their suitcases were still in here, still waiting to be unpacked. Akko had grabbed a towel from her own, one she had brought in _hopes_ of a getaway to a beach around here, and began to pat down her hair.

It was a pointless gesture, considering she was about to go back out and get rained on all over again, but her nerves cried out for even as small a comfort like drying herself off just a few minutes.

She kept her eyes on the bags as she wiped the towel across her arm in the sling. If there stuff was still here, then Andrew and Diana had to still be here, didn't they? In the country, if not in the house. Akko knew full well how she fit into their group _now_ , but she wasn't sure they'd just abandon her in another half of the globe.

She hoped they wouldn't, at least. The closer she got to the ruins, the more she felt her skin crawl, and it was impossible to tell if it was a curse taking hold even from here, or if it was simply her own anxiety eating at her mind.

And if there even _was_ a line in-between those two ideas, she certainly couldn't see it.

"…ugh. I'm gonna get a cold by the time this is over, I just know it." She sniffed, tossing the wet towel onto the bags. As it hit, it knocked loose a notebook that had been resting on top. The sound of the tiny metal rings hitting the floor stuck out against the patter of rain on the window.

It was Diana's notebook, the one she had been writing her thesis paper in. The paper was soaked through and barely legible. Akko felt a tinge of vindication.

She bent down, and looked over the all-important paper that she had been passed up in favor of, struggling to make sense of the words still left on the page.

" _The shr-ne seems to be dedicated to the ancient witches, wh-earn the mind's deepest secrets and –se them in order t- -. In specif-c, the shrine is ded-cated to the head witch of the t-be, who the -scriptions refer to as-,_ -as among the _—ny of the natives that were –ped out by –uro-ean settlers in the –00's."_

There were a number of notes in the margins, mentioning inserting details and rephrasing sentences, but while the other pages might've been less wet than this one, Akko didn't feel much need to read anymore.

It was a sad thought, to imagine such a big magic culture that was simply destroyed by some outside force. Which…now that she thought about it, was not entirely different from what she was planning to do right now. This _was_ the right thing to do…wasn't it?

Akko wasn't immune to fear. She knew she wasn't. She got panicky and scared all the time. But she always figured it didn't matter. As long as she got up and _did_ something about it. But what if she made another mistake…?

And just going out and blowing something up, it felt wrong. It felt at odds with even the simple values she tried to live by. Maybe she didn't have some grand family code or anything, but she wanted to go out and _make_ something of the world. She had always hoped when everything was said and done, she would be remembered by bringing something into the world.

But as another clap of thunder cracked from outside, Akko shook the thoughts from her head. No, this _had_ to be the right thing. Everything was solved neatly, wasn't it? Diana was mad at her, Andrew was out of sorts, and she herself was left without any idea what to do. And these ruins were the source of it all.

There was no point in trying to think about it. There was no guarantee how long the lightning would go for. If she wanted an equalizer, she had to choose now.

She quickly left the room and began searching for something to use to get the job done. She stepped into the living room and gasped.

The place was an absolute wreck. The couch had been torn completely in half, and large chunks of the metal frame were embedded in the wall. Glass and debris were everywhere. And there were large scratches across the wall that looked like they were made by…

Claws.

Akko hugged her disabled arm closer to her chest.

Where were Andrew and Diana? And Darío, where was he? The panther must've attacked them. That was the only explanation. Was that why the car was gone? Had they gotten away? She could only hope that was the case.

Any doubt in her mind was erased. She picked up one of the longer pieces of the couch frame. Big and metal enough that it should be able to call down a bolt, if she just left it on top of the shell encasing the ruins. Even beyond taking Andrew and Diana down from their level, this was simply revenge for them hurting her friends.

It called the ruins its home, after all.

She rushed to the doorway, and looked to the sky, the clouds still flashing with lightning. It wasn't too late. But she didn't quite know how to do this. She had to find a way to guarantee the lightning would hit, without getting her more hurt. But how was she supposed to do-?

Just then, she heard a voice muttering from somewhere behind the house. She couldn't place it, not over the sound of the storm, but she felt no need to wait to find out who it was. If it was one of the others, she didn't have the time to waste explaining herself, and she didn't know what she was supposed to say in the first place.

And if it wasn't them, then she had all the more reason to begin sprinting back towards the ruins, with a single tentative glance behind her. It didn't look like she was being followed, but it was getting too dark to tell.

But with the metal pole in her one working hand, she entered the clearing, and looked up at the giant shell encasing the ruins, and narrowed her eyes at the lightning bolts striking far off in the distance.

Time to do or die.

* * *

For a moment, all Diana could think was that she was too late, that she failed Akko again, and now Santillo had come for her. But before she could either sink into that or get her wand out, she was snapped from her panic by a voice.

"What are you doing, Diana? Get in!"

"A-Andrew?" She gasped. "Is that you?" It was him in the driver's seat, but he looked awful. His skin was pale and clammy, he was visibly out of breath, and bleeding from the lip. His clothes were caked in mud, and the left sleeve of his sweatshirt had been ripped off at the elbow.

"Come on!" He repeated, waving his hand for her to hurry up. "Get in, already! Let's go!"

"R-right! Right…" She shook her head and circled around to the passenger door. No sooner than she sat down did Andrew immediately begin driving. She snapped on her seatbelt and leveled him with a questioning look.

"Oh thank goodness." Andrew let out a sigh of relief, before smiling over at her. "You would not _believe_ how lucky we are I gave you my phone before you left. The doctor left _his_ in the car, and I was able to use it to track my-"

"Andrew, what…what _happened?_ " Diana interrupted, glancing down at his sleeve. "Y-your shirt, and the car, and…are you okay?"

He chuckled mirthlessly, still short of breath. "Met that damn panther of yours." He said, glancing down the road. "Attacked me at the house. Chased me through the place. That thing is unstoppable. I hit it with everything I had and it barely even phased the thing."

Diana clenched her fists. "I'm guessing this happened _after_ Santillo left?"

Andrew nodded, after a moment. "Y-yeah, it did, now that I think about it. Not sure if it's good luck or not. I'd hate for him to get caught up in an attack like that, but I wouldn't have minded the help."

"Luck has nothing to do with it." Diana spat. "That…that thing is _working_ with the doctor."

Andrew slammed on the brakes, and the both of them jerked forward. But he recovered first, and he snapped over, staring at her incredulously.

"What?!" His brows furrowed. "The panther and-? You…you can't be serious!"

"It attacked _us_ right after he turned in for the night, and it attacked you only days after. Of course it has something to do with him." Diana said, failing to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"That's…! No, that can't…!" Andrew sputtered, trying to find some piece of evidence to deny it. When he couldn't, he simply held his head in his hand. "Holy…okay, alright. Alright. I guess…there's a silver lining to making Akko leave like that then. God…"

Diana glared out the window. "…Keep driving. We're going back to the house."

Andrew snapped over again. "B-back to the-?! Why would we-?"

"We need to stop him."

"We _need_ to find Akko, make a straight shot to the airport, and get out of here!" Andrew argued. "This…this is crazy! Why in the world would you want to go back when _your_ girlfriend is-?!"

"I'm going back to make sure she doesn't find him first!" Diana cut him off. "I need to fix this. I should've looked into it more, I should've listened to all the warnings. This is on me, and I have to take responsibility."

"Diana, for god's sake, there's no way you could've known this."

"That's no excuse!" Diana pinched the bridge of her nose. "This is my fault, Hanbridge! I'm the one who put you in danger, I'm the one who got Akko bitten, and I'm the one that brought us here! I should've been-! I don't know, I needed to…to be…but I wasn't-!"

"Look!" Andrew grabbed her shoulder. "It does not _matter,_ okay?! Maybe you made a bunch of stupid decisions in the past, maybe you were an awful person, maybe you ruined all sorts of lives, but no matter how bad you feel about it, you can't _change_ it!"

Diana could only shrink under the aimless anger in his voice.

"The only thing you can ever do is recognize what an awful person you were and just…just _hope_ against all hope that maybe, _maybe!_ You can fix it all someday and be a better person. And who knows if you can, but sitting around _thinking_ about how big of a piece of shit you were never solved _anything!_ "

He slammed his fist down on the dashboard, breathing heavily, glaring down at the steering wheel. Diana had no idea what to do. She had never seen him like this. Almost timidly, she reached out. "Andrew…"

"You just…" Andrew shook his head, with a long groan. "You just have to accept it's done, and…keep moving forward. And that's all you can ever do. It's the only thing that works."

"…I'm trying to, Andrew." Diana rested a hand on his back. "I really am. But if we don't get there first, Akko might just end up walking back alone. I still have my wand. She doesn't."

Andrew sighed, but after a moment, he looked up at the road. "...But I guess we're not moving forward today. We're going back. The irony is…just…just fantastic."

"I suppose it is."

"This is crazy." He shook his head, and began driving back towards the house. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Right on the edge of her tongue was a quick retort that she did. But she simply swallowed it. And in a quiet voice, said, "I hope I do, too."

They drove in silence. Andrew kept his eyes fixed on the road, and Diana kept glancing out the window in the vain hope that Akko might still be out here, and not over there. She wasn't even sure how her plan would change if she _had_ spotted Akko out here, but at least she'd feel secure.

It hadn't been such a long drive the first time they went up to Santillo's house.

The sky had gotten even darker. Diana wasn't sure if the rain was slowing, or if she was again losing her perception of time as her emotions consumed her. But the day was rapidly drawing to a close. She tried to ignore the sense of running out of time.

When they pulled up the hill to Santillo's house, they found the man himself in the yard, next to the mangled car door, shielding his eyes from the headlights. Andrew hesitated before he turned them off.

Santillo ran a hand through his hair, stress stitched across his features. "What did you guys do my car?" He gasped. "What in the world-?!"

Diana slammed the passenger door shut behind her and stormed over to Santillo. "Where's Akko?"

"What?" Santillo blinked. "You haven't found her yet? When you weren't _here_ , I thought you might've-"

"Spare me that." As subtly as it could, Diana's hand went to her back pocket, where her wand sat. "Where is she? Is she here, or not?"

"No." Santillo shook his head. "You two told me she left, and she certainly never came back here!" He craned his neck, glancing to the back of his jeep. "Is she really not with you? You can't just-"

As Diana whipped around the wand, the doctor's hands shot up, and whatever thing he was about to say died in his throat.

"H-hey now!" Santillo swallowed. "Settle down, alright? What are you-?"

Diana's fingers tightened around the wand. "Is. Akko. Here."

"No!" He cried. "No, she's not here! I just said she's not here! I haven't seen her!"

Andrew laid a hand on her shoulder. "Diana, don't go jumping to conclusions…"

Santillo nodded vigorously. "R-right! Right! I know you're all freaked out, but let's not go pointing fingers, alright?" He smiled gently. "I know you're worried, a-and yeah, I get it. You and Akko had a bad night. But she's alright now, isn't she? Her arm will heal. You two are gonna be just fine."

"Is that so?" She arched a brow.

"W-well, I like to believe. But…there's…there's no need to escalate the situation. I promise, I'll help you find Akko. I'm on your side here."

Diana studied the blatant fear on his face, the panic in his eyes, the sweat on his brow, before she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Santillo didn't know. She may trust him half as far as she could throw him, but he seemed to genuinely have no idea where Akko was. Which meant, wherever she was, she was safe from him.

The doctor, slowly and hesitantly, lowered his hands. "So…let's just all have a-"

Diana immediately aimed her wand back at his chest. "How did you know where Akko was bitten?"

"E-ex _cuse_ me?" Santillo gaped. "Andrew told me. He told me she was attacked. You were _there_ , when that conversation happened. What are you accusing me of here?"

Andrew crossed his arms. "But I never said _how_ Akko got hurt, because I didn't think Diana needed to hear it again. I never mentioned the bite, and I certainly didn't mention her arm. And she left the house, _before_ you came in."

Santillo's face paled, and Diana's fingers tightened. "What did you do?" She demanded. "What relationship do you have with that thing?"

"Now hang on just a second there! That's…that's fear talking, you're being ridiculous! I don't even-"

"Does it belong to you? Did you sick it on some poor innocent girl?"

"What?! No! I-"

"Why? Why did you attack her? What did she do to you?"

"It wasn't _supposed_ to be her!" He snapped. "It was supposed to be y-!"

The three of them froze.

All was quiet for a moment. Far off in the distance, thunder rumbled.

And then the tip of Diana's wand lit up with a deadly green. "What have you _done?_ "

Santillo sputtered, his eyes rapidly flicking between her, Andrew, and the light pointed at him. He tried to find something to say, some rational explanation, and when none came, he let out a frustrated groan, pulling at his hair.

"It's not my fault!" He cried. "It wasn't even supposed to be lethal! A bad bite and few disfiguring scars, just enough to get you off my things! But you couldn't just leave it alone! Like I told you too, over and over! You couldn't have just gotten scared and gone back to your _own_ business like the rest of the kids who came down here! No, you had to keep meddling! Keep getting in my face! Just like she said you would!"

"She?" Andrew's eyes narrowed. "Who was…?"

"The old woman!" He glared. "She _told_ me all about you people! She told me it was people like _you_ that no one respects my grandfather! All you stuck-up kids coming into _my_ country! Taking my things! My dream!"

Diana and Andrew exchanged a quick look before facing the increasingly flustered Santillo.

"All I wanted was for you to leave! I didn't _want_ to hurt anyone, but no! You had to keep prying! If you had just-"

"I've heard enough." Diana cut him off. "I don't need to hear your sick-"

Then Santillo reached over and grabbed the end of her wand. And to her horror, the magic simply absorbed into his fist.

He stole it right out of the wand.

"It didn't have to end like this." As he growled, the timbre in his voice grew less and less human. "I didn't want it to be like this. I didn't want it to come to this, but you wouldn't listen."

The light from the wand traveled up his arm, and spread throughout his body. She could hear the sounds of bones cracking underneath his skin. A pained groan escaped his lips, but as the light enveloped him completely, he managed to say two words.

"Metamorphie Faciesse."

* * *

 _A.N. Hey sorry for taking so long. That was pretty lame of me._

 _But anyway. Back now._

 _Sure, some of you guessed it was him. But I figured people would, since it's not a huge leap of logic to make, when two new characters are introduced like that. The question is…what does it all mean? And if you knew that I knew that you knew that it was him…then…?_


	7. Thunderstorm

In the late hours of the day, at the tail end of the thunderstorm, Akko pulled herself up a few inches by her palm, and the next few with her elbow, gradually making her way up the slick, rocky shell encasing the ruins. The full extent of her current plan was to climb to the top of it. There was very little thought going through her head at the moment beyond that immediate goal. There was never much thought going through _anyone's_ head, at least when it came to the ancient shrine. Generally, there was just one of two.

Fight, or flight.

It was instinctual. Spend enough time around the ruins, and the heart starts beating, and the brain feels like something, _something_ , is closing in on it. They recoil at how wrong it all feels, and work together to protect themselves from the forces that threaten them. Threaten their identity, their security, their sense of belonging, of responsibility. Terror consumes them, and the instincts that drive the heart and the brain, ones that are neither good nor evil but merely self-interested, tell them they are about to lose those precious pieces of themselves.

So it was not that Akko was too simple-minded as to not understand the danger she was putting herself in up here, nor was it that she was too nonchalant to acknowledge it. But she, much like everyone else, felt the energy and the spirit of the shrine tightening around her to take away the pieces of herself that made her, her.

In another place, even a fear as deeply rooted and integral as that might've subsided enough for her to see the bigger picture. A little more time, a little more perspective, and perhaps even a little more support from the ones she loved, and Akko might've abandoned the plan entirely. But that sense of terror was all-encompassing here, and she swore somewhere in her heart that it was inescapable. And her heart said if she ran from it, either from the girl she loved or from the first decision that popped into her head, she would lose any sense of self she had left.

So her brain told her to fight.

In that sense, she was much like anyone else who refused to flee from the ruins. She would not flee, so she instead searched for something she could touch, and therefore something she could destroy, and she found it in the ruins. Her instincts told her if she could destroy this, fight this, make it hurt, disappear, then the fear would be gone and everything would be as it should be.

There was no feeling of accomplishment when she made it to the top of the shell, despite the effort it took her. She was very apprehensive, a feeling reaching out from the parts of her mind that could think beyond the immediate threat, but that was fought down much the same as any other emotion that her instincts did not deem relevant to her fight.

That was what it was all about. Survival. Retaining the current status, because there was no guarantee the devil that came with the new wasn't worse than the one already there. Akko, Diana, Darío, Andrew, everything and everything in this clearing ran on instinct in desperate times in order to protect themselves.

And like anything that ran on instinct, on base desires and spur of the moment thoughts, the five of them were more prone to mistakes and misunderstandings, in the very times when those could be most fatal.

When Akko _did_ arrive on top of the petrified shell entombing the ancient ruins, she was surprised to see an old woman already there. With much the same pleasant smile she offered to anyone, the old woman spoke with a benign neutrality.

"Hello, young lady. You're a long way from home, aren't you?"

* * *

Darío had only ever wanted to live his childhood dream. He remembered the way his grandfather's eyes lit up whenever he talked of theories of anthropology. He remembered the way his grandfather poured himself into his work in his twilight years, always grasping at answers he swore were just at the edges of his nails. The shake of his voice when he talked of the ruins he discovered, the promise of greatness his words held.

Darío wanted to be like him. To be him. To go from the simple life of a student and scholar to the grand lifestyle of a master, like his grandfather lived. He would do what it took to get there. He would fight for it.

It was black magic, a form he studied up in Catemaco, that allowed him to take the magic from the Cavendish girl's wand and absorb it for his own. She didn't deserve it. She was one of _them._ She had life handed to her, and even that wasn't enough. She had to bring her other little privileged friend with her and come down to _his_ property to study _his_ ruins and take away _his_ dream.

He doubled over, as the magic took hold of his body. He had fallen to his hands, which quickly became paws. Teeth became fangs, tanned skin was replaced with black fur. Spines erupted down his back, and his size and strength grew.

He had borrowed the image of the panther from the ruins. It was justice, that the panther in the mural would protect them.

The boy with Diana, he grabbed her shoulder and ushered her away. He was leading her along, making a beeline for the car. _His_ car. Everything here was _his, his_ alone, and they were taking it. Stealing it.

He was tempted to let them have this. At least they would leave, be gone forever. He never wanted to be cruel, even if it was justified. He wanted to do what was right. He had lived by these ruins for decades, basking in their glory. He hadn't lied when he told the girl he didn't want to see her hurt.

But from the corner of his vision, on his porch, he saw the old woman again. It had been a long time since she had shown her face. He had been sure she was a friend of his grandfather, in another lifetime, but he hadn't seen her before he moved out to this house, and hadn't seen here since the first time students came to visit _his_ ruins.

When did she get here? What was she doing at his house? Did these spoiled trust fund babies bring her here? He hadn't seen her get out of the car with them, but she definitely hadn't been there when he was surveying the damage Andrew made him do to _his_ house.

Maybe he'd have thought on it longer, had the old woman not started to speak.

"You can't let them leave, Darío." The woman said, sneering at him. "You know that, right? They know your secret. They know what you've done, and if they walk away…they tell _everyone._ You'll lose your grandfather's legacy forever. You'll lose your chance at your dream."

A part of him swore she was right, but…he still didn't want to cross that line. He felt frozen, suffocated. What should he do? He felt like he was going to lose something either way, but…

"You can't hesitate, Darío. If they leave, it's over. Your life is done. This is the only way."

The panther shook his head.

She was right. Of course she was right. If they left, he would lose what was his, and he couldn't afford to do that. There was no time for questioning, and certainly no time for morality. She was right. He felt the panther's strength rippling through him, and he let go of what remained of his humanity. He had to act, even if he had never taken it this far. This was right. This was right.

He wasn't going to let anyone leave.

He bent down, and he pounced.

* * *

Akko slowly climbed to her feet, shaking her head gently. There were so many questions on her mind, staring at the elder who had somehow gotten to the ruins before here, whose gaze seemed so secure and knowing, who somehow remained dry amidst the pouring rain. But Akko could only manage a weak, "W-who are you? How did you get-?"

The old woman laughed, as if to a private joke. "The same way you did, I imagine." She eyed the metal rod Akko had stuffed under her sling. "What exactly are you doing up here? You certainly don't belong up here, and you certainly don't seem to have a plan, Akko."

"H-how did you-?" She shook her head. It didn't matter. She had to get this done, and she had to get it done now. "Listen, old lady! You gotta get out of here! This place is cursed, and I'm gonna-!"

"Oh, no, no, no." The old woman tutted. "It sounds to me like you're making another mistake. Look at you, so lost and confused. You're just going to get yourself hurt."

"N-no! _You_ don't understand!" Akko snapped. "I'm not! I'm…I'm doing the right thing! _You're_ going to get hurt if you stay here! I'm going to stop this curse!"

"Tell me about this curse, Akko." The woman said gently. "Tell me, what's so bad here that makes you think you should be here?"

"I…it's…it's like…" Her brows furrowed. Was she just too panic-stricken to remember what she knew, or was it that she didn't know? "I-it doesn't matter! I Get out of my way!"

The old woman pressed an affronted hand to her chest. "Goodness! You're quite a volatile little one, aren't you? I'm just a defenseless lady, you know. All I wanted to say was…I don't think you belong here."

A chill ran up Akko's spine, one that might've served as a warning. But once again, her rationality was gone, and all it took was that one word. "What do you even _want_ from me?! I'm busy! I need to do this!"

"I know you _think_ that." The old woman shrugged. "I just want to help, that's all. I want to make sure everyone gets the happy ending they deserve."

* * *

The car had almost been within Andrew's reach. Just there, centimeters away from his outstretched finger tips. He had never wanted to come back to the house, back to the ruins, but he knew he had to support Diana. He didn't regret it, at least not yet. Maybe once he got to the car, got out of here, had time to think, he could've formed an opinion.

But the panther cut him off once more. Only this time, it had landed atop the hood of the car, and its sheer size completely crushed it inwards. The roof was pressed down into the seats, and the creature, the _doctor's_ , front paw dislodged the steering wheel entirely, seemingly without even intending to.

Andrew tried to skid to a halt, but the ground was far too muddy, too slick from the storm, and his legs gave out from under him. He stood frozen, watching helplessly as the creature eyed him from atop the totaled vehicle.

Diana gasped, from somewhere behind him. She shouted for him to get up, but he was paralyzed. He could only watch as the panther opened its mouth. "Mine." It growled, in its deep baritone. "You won't steal from me. Not anymore. No one will again."

Andrew's heart hammered in his chest. He could hear Diana saying something, but he couldn't understand. He didn't understand anything of what was going on. He needed time, space, to process it all. And whenever he turned around, both seemed to drain away.

And then he saw her, from the corner of his vision. He was sure his eyes were playing tricks on him, that he was seeing things. But he saw her.

It was the old woman, the same from the café, sitting serenely in the grass, legs crossed in an almost lotus positon. She looked disconnected from the world around her, and she looked down at Andrew like he might've looked at a gnat.

"Be serious, Andrew. This about witches, and magic. What are you even doing here? You should've gone back to your mansion. Run and hide on your father's jet plane. Isn't that all you've ever been good at?"

His eyes flicked to Diana, but all she did was stare back at him, horrified. As if she couldn't even see the woman there. He didn't understand what was going on. He didn't understand how she was here, how any of this could happen. He didn't understand why everything the woman said seemed to make it all worse.

"You can't change anything, Andrew." The old woman said. Even against the storm and the thunder, he heard every word, clear as day. "Did you think you could actually _help_ anyone? Make a difference? Why can't you just accept you'll never be anything more than what you are? You should've just hid. Isn't that what you're best at?"

He had been distracted, too engrossed and terrified by the words of this old woman to notice the panther about to strike. He barely even registered Diana grabbing the cloth around his shoulder and yanking him down, yanking him down in such a way that his head was hit by the fleshy paw as opposed to the sharp claws.

He was knocked to the ground all the same.

Maybe he could've fought to stay consciousness. Maybe he could've remained awake if he had tried a little harder, if he had time to dwell on whatever empathy he had left in him after everything that had happened in the past 48 hours.

But she was right. Every word the old woman said to him was right. He didn't want to be here. He just wanted to run and hide. It was too much, way too much, for him to think about what would happen to Diana or Akko. He just wanted to get out of here, like the old woman said he should.

It was the only thing he could think to do. He fell unconscious, because that way, whatever happened, he wouldn't be around to deal with it.

* * *

"Don't you see, Akko?" The old woman smiled, in a kind, grandmotherly way. "There's nothing to be afraid of. You should just put that…thing down, before someone gets hurt."

"I'm not…" Akko shook her head. "I-I'm not scared. I'm not. I'm done being scared."

The old woman hummed sadly, and began pacing. Despite the constant rain and the uneven surface, her footing was sure and unaffected. "No…I think you're making another mistake here. I know it's hard to hear, but it's true, isn't it? You're shaking. You're tired and cold and wet. And it's not like we all haven't made serious misjudgments, haven't we, Akko?"

The flush of humiliation filled Akko's cheeks. A sentiment that had been there many times. "…Maybe…maybe I _am_ scared, but…but that's why I gotta-!"

She lifted the rod above her head. Unsure of how she intended to do this, unsure of how she could avoid electrocuting herself, unsure if it would even _work_. But as soon as it was above her head, the woman just cackled again. Had Akko payed better attention, she might've picked up on how forced it sounded.

"N-now, _really_ , what do you think you're going to do with _that_ , Akko? Why don't you talk with me for a second? Would one minute really hurt?"

"I…no. No, I have to do this now. I don't have time to-!"

"Just one minute, dearie!" The old woman held up a single finger. "I just want to say my piece. Do you really think I'd climb all the way up here to steer you wrong?"

* * *

Diana didn't have the time to feel much at watching Andrew collapse, aside from some basic level of shock. She hadn't wanted to see him hurt, and she hadn't wanted to see anyone hurt because of all her faults. But the panther was not finished with the boy, even when his head hit the ground and his eyes closed. It stood over him, preparing to bite down. To kill and gut him like a wild animal.

She had spent many years trying to control panic. It would do her no good, not in situations like this. Most of her training and schools of thought had long since abandoned her, but some of them were ingrained enough in her psyche to become instinctual.

She registered the weapon in her hand. She didn't think much of the fact that Santillo had stolen its energy from it. It was unimportant. But she still had it.

Her wand was charging, pulling in magic from the air. Ever since Yggdrasil was revived, magic was never in short supply. But it would take time, more than she had, to reach full power. With what she had now, she only had one or two spells to cast.

So she raised her wand, and shouted the first word that came to mind. Something violent and painful, because those were all she could focus on right now.

"Aeguil!"

It was a spell she knew from her Aunt, and not one she had ever been comfortable using. Chords of energy streaked from her wand, snaked through the air, and violently stabbed themselves into the panther's side. But it left no injury, and she knew it was not because she had failed to cast it correctly.

The creature grunted, and it turned its attention from Andrew to her. Diana supposed she could handle its undivided attention. It was for the best that this monster bore down on her and her alone. Even if she was powerless to hurt it, let alone stop it, it was at least something she understood.

There was a lot she wanted to run from in life, but she never ran from her responsibilities. She never could. And this was her penance to pay.

The panther leapt, claws out. Diana stood her ground and cast another spell, careful not to flinch. Before it could get far, a spherical barrier suddenly trapped the panther in midair. It tumbled, rolling around the inside of the bubble.

"You won't take it from me!" The panther yelled, trying to get its bearings. "You little rich brats aren't getting away! They won't recognize you when I'm through with you! They'll never identify you! They'll never trace it back to me! I'll rip you to pieces when I get out of here! I will!"

And despite herself, Diana couldn't keep the image from her mind, nor keep her brow from sweating. But at least if it was her, it wouldn't be Akko.

In another place, she might've realized how pointless the train of thought was, and that if she failed here, it was only a matter of time before Andrew and Akko shared her fate. But she couldn't think of the long term. Not now. Not when the immediate was so much more pressing.

But when she looked just below where the creature floated, she spotted the old woman, standing under the cover of a tree from the storm overhead. She was crossing her arms, disapprovingly.

"Haven't you ruined enough, Diana? The only part about you anyone ever cared about is your surname, and now you're soiling that too. And now you've hurt the only people who could even pretend to like you. How many times are you going to keep failing before you accept what you are?"

She tried to tune her out, tried not to give a second thought. But even as she locked eyes with the panther once more, she heard the woman continue.

"You can't stop this. You never could, not when all of this happened because of _you._ If you had just kept your mouth shut and stayed home, none of this would've happened. Every time you try to do anything, you just make it worse. But the world doesn't fit in a bottle, does it Diana?"

Diana growled, desperate to ignore the old woman's words. It never occurred to her to question how the old woman was here, how she beat them here when they had driven and she had walked out of the store. It never occurred to her question how the woman was involved in this, how she seemed to know everything.

The panther slashed through the bubble without any effort, and Diana did not manage any more of a reaction than to narrow her eyes. She stepped backwards, focusing solely on putting more space between her and this creature, leading it away from everyone and everything.

She refused to concede that the old woman was right. She refused to confront that fact, to entertain the thought. It didn't matter that the old woman was right, and that Diana had been wrong about everything, and that being the whole reason everything went the way it did.

She just had to keep running from everything. If she just kept running, she wouldn't fall. At least not that way. So with her wand in hand, she pushed everything from her mind and fell the other.

* * *

"You see, Akko…" The old woman continued to pace. She was wrinkled, silver-haired, and frail. Yet in her absentminded gait, she seemed so much larger. So much bigger than anyone Akko ever met. "I know it's hard, for people like you. I know you wish someone could explain to you what's happening and why everything seems to go so wrong for you. But those answers aren't always easy to hear…"

Akko cocked her head. "What does _that_ mean?"

"I just…" The old woman rubbed her eyes. "What that means is…I just can't bear to see kids your age get hurt. You're so close to adulthood, aren't you? Sometimes…those honest truths hurt, and I hate to see kids your age get discouraged."

"Y-you don't know me!" Akko glared. It was striking, how effectively she could make her feel small. "We've never even met! You don't know anything _about_ me!"

The old woman sighed sadly. "…You see Akko…I'm very good at reading people. When you get to be _my_ age, you see a lot of the same things in a lot of different people. You watch people enough, you get very good at picking them apart without even needing a single word. And with you…I just don't think there's much to know in the _first_ place."

"That's…" Akko couldn't shake the feeling. Like every time she tried to feel angry and fight, and feel something other than fear, her energy just wasted away. "That's not true."

The old woman smiled lopsidedly. Awkwardly. Like she was embarrassed to admit it. "There's just not much to you, I'm afraid. You're…I suppose the best word is…simple. You're a very simple person."

"H-how do you know? How could you possibly know anything?"

"It's in the way you walk, the way you look and talk and move. It's all…just so quaint, really. It's not like it's _your_ fault, of course. We can't escape our backgrounds, now can we?"

"…people can change." Akko argued weakly. "People can always change. People can get better."

"Oh…you poor thing." The old woman cooed. "This is why I didn't want to tell you. I know it's tough, but you can't make something out of nothing. You shouldn't feel _too_ bad. The world needs simple, plain, people."

Akko wanted to argue, wanted to find something to rebuke it. But after everything that had happened, she couldn't find the words. She didn't want the old woman to be right. But she was having more and more trouble finding ways to say she wasn't.

The old woman took a step forward, with a comforting smile on her face. "Think of it this way, Akko. How would we know what great people look like if we didn't have anything to compare it to? You're not useless. You just…well, you just don't belong here."

"But…" Below Akko, her knees were shaking. She was almost sure the old woman was right. "But I…I _want_ to be here. It's…it's what I want…"

The old woman bent down, to look her in the eyes. "Why don't you just drop that metal thing, and go home? Don't you think that would be best for everyone?"

"W-what about Diana? O-or Andrew? She…she wouldn't…she wouldn't want me to…"

The old woman smiled sympathetically.

Akko tried to find the words to deny the old woman was right. But none came, no matter how hard she tried. She was _sure_ the woman was right. She was sure she didn't belong here, and she was sure that Diana simply thought she was annoying.

Just like Anna and Aunt Daryl did, who told little Akko Kagari that she did not belong in the historic halls of the house of Cavendish. Just like Mr. Hanbridge did, who told little Akko Kagari her dreams were the outdated fancies of children. Just like so many at Luna Nova, who told little Akko Kagari that she would never be a witch, a _true_ witch, like the rest of them were. They told her she'd never be like Chariot, that she'd never be a witch like Holbrooke or Finnelan, or Hannah or Barbara, or like…Diana.

Like…Diana…

Like Diana. She had thought Akko was annoying before. She had thought that when they first met. And for months afterwards. And Akko had never been able to measure up, because she had her magic stolen away. Akko blinked as the realization finally broke through.

That's what it always was, when it came to the ruins and those who fell under its power. The fear of the unknown. Her eyes cast down at her arm in the sling.

Like _both_ Diana and Andrew. They both thought she was annoying before. Both of them had mocked and scorned her. And here she was, in a totally new country, crippled in a way that was beyond her control, surrounded by people who she was sure didn't understand her and didn't think she had any place here.

But she had been here before. She handled it.

She had won them over, Diana and Andrew, not by tearing them down or beating them at their own game, but simply by following her own dream and encouraging them to follow theirs. By being there and supporting them, regardless if she was actually sure she could help.

She could never be an aristocrat, no more than she could be the exact witch she wanted to be. The show that inspired her chewed away at her magic power. It would heal, and she could build it up, but she'd never be able to do it until she finally accepted that no amount of yelling and running could change the fact that life was not always fair.

And she had did that. None of this was new. All of it was something she had faced before. She did it once, so why not do it again?

And sure, she was still pretty scared. Of course she was. But even if she _was_ , that didn't mean she wanted to just abandon her friends if she could help, or go blowing things up when they were separated. Did Diana even know where she _was_ right now?

What was she doing up here? She couldn't blow these things up. And even if she wanted to…an old couch frame? That was crazy. She was going to get herself killed. No, this whole thing was crazy. What she needed to was…was to…

"I need to go find my friends."

The old woman blinked, and the smile drained from her face. "…what?"

"I need to go find my friends!" Akko repeated. "I gotta fix this! This is insane!"

"I…" The old woman shook her head. "Don't be silly. Think about it, Akko. You're not wanted. You're not-"

"So?" Akko shrugged her shoulders. "They didn't want me before, but they got stuck with me anyway! Those two _need_ someone annoying like me!"

The old woman sputtered. "W-what about Darío? After all he did to you? It was your fault, you know! A _real_ witch wouldn't have gotten bitten, not like _you_ did. You'd only make things worse, running back to your friends like that."

Akko stopped in her tracks. Darío did to…?

"Wait…" Her brows furrowed. "Are…are you saying the doctor guy _is_ the wild animal he was always warning Diana about…?"

"That's right!" The old woman beamed. "That's right. It's him. I'm sure someone like you _might've_ figured it out, eventually. But…well, who could blame you?"

"But…why would he _do_ that? That's...he _bit_ me? How did he transform into that…that thing that bit me?"

"Who can say?" The old woman mused. "Some people just…just, uh…work on a different level. I can't speak for his motivations."

Akko's eyes fell downward, thinking things over. And she quickly spun on her heels. "Then…I gotta make sure _Diana_ knows that too! And Andrew! They might still be at his house!"

Carefully, Akko bounced off the top of the ruins and splashed down in the wet grass. Shaking herself off, she started back the way she came.

She had only gotten a little bit away before she found the old woman waiting for her, standing next to a tree on the path to Darío's house. "You can't do anything to help, you know. You'll only make it worse. You're useless when it comes to this."

"How did you get here so-?" Akko shook her head. "Never mind. I'm still going."

"You'll never fit in. You know that. I know you know that. You'll never fit in, and you'll _never_ be a part of her world like you want to be."

That made Akko stop in her tracks. And the old woman jumped on the opportunity. "You'll never be good enough for her. You'll never be the most important thing in her life. I'm not telling you anything new. You know that already."

"…Yeah." Akko admitted. "I guess I _do_ know that…" She turned to the old woman and smiled. "But I already asked her out, so I'm kinda committed here."

She picked up her pace, jogging back towards the house. And if the woman said anything more to her, Akko didn't hear it.

She found Diana at the house, alright. And she almost couldn't believe what she was seeing. The car was completely destroyed. Andrew was on the ground, not moving. The panther that bit her, the one that was, apparently, Darío, was roaring. And it was circling Diana, who was tracking it with her wand.

The panther reared back, preparing to pounce. Akko ran into the yard and shouted.

"WAIT!"

The panther froze, turning to gape at her. Diana turned and gasped.

"Akko?" She said, breathlessly. But she quickly shook off her surprise. "G-Get out of here! Go! You need to get somewhere-!"

But by that point, Akko had inserted herself in-between Diana and the creature. "Darío, is that…really _you_ in there?"

The panther studied her for a moment, before it narrowed its eyes. "…you should've stayed away, Akko. I didn't want to do this to you."

Before Akko could even _think_ of anything to say in response, Diana roughly brushed past her and took aim once more. "Akko, move! Get _out_ of here! I only have the power for one more spell right now, and I _need_ a clear shot!"

Akko glanced over her shoulder at the panther's eyes. "But Diana, you can't just-!"

"Quiet!" Diana snapped. "I only have one shot! It'll take too long to charge again! I…I need to think of the right spell! One that can stop this thing!"

"But there's a _guy_ in there! You can't just _blast_ him! Can't you find a way to…I dunno, just tie him up or something?"

"Akko, I need to-!"

Diana paused, and straightened, the way someone does when they realized they just missed something major. Akko would know, she had that reaction a lot.

Diana waved her wand. "Foraen Mugrowna!"

Before the panther could even react, jungle vines suddenly shot out from the trees and entangled him. One belted his two front paws together, and another ensnared his snout, silencing any cry Darío might've made. A third tied his tail to his back leg, and with three of the four taken out, the panther flopped onto its side.

Diana looked down at her wand. Its power was empty, but it was charging. It would take a few minutes before it had the power to do anything. "Why didn't I think that…?" She asked herself. "Plant spells don't take that much energy. How did I miss-?"

"C'mon!" Akko grabbed her wrist. "We gotta make sure Andrew's okay!"

Diana gaped at the boy on the ground. "It…it was just a blow to the head. I…I think he should be fine."

Akko turned him over so he was flat on his back. He looked terrible. He was breathing. But still terrible looking. "Are you sure? He's…he's completely out."

Diana parted his hair, revealing a purple bruise. "It was a hit, but I…I don't think he has anything worse than a concussion. If even that." She shook her head, looking back up at Akko. "You were _here?_ Wh-what were doing here? Why were you-?"

Her eyes snapped over when she heard an angry growl from Darío. The vines, even magically enhanced, weren't going to hold it forever. Not when his form was so big.

Akko bit her lip, before setting her one hand on Diana's shoulder. "I…I just want to say I'm sorry!"

"T-this isn't the best time, Akko!"

"I know! But…but I _need_ to make sure you hear it! I need to tell you now!"

"Don't talk like that." Diana glared. "Just…get out of here! I'll…I'll find a way to hold it off! _Please_ get somewhere safe!"

"No, I'm serious, Diana!" Akko argued. "I'm sorry for running off, and I'm sorry for bugging you! It was dumb, a-and I wasn't thinking and I was sorta all out of sorts and…and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad, and I'm sorry."

Diana was stricken, staring at her in disbelief. "Akko…" She was quiet for a moment, before a sad sigh escaped her lips. "I never meant to tell you to leave, but I couldn't handle seeing anything happen to you. Not again. I know I've been dismissive, even before I dragged you into this trip, and I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do, or how else to handle it."

"I mean…" Akko squeezed her shoulder. "I get it. This whole thing is sorta…but it's alright now, okay?"

"No, it's really not." Diana said. "…It was wrong of me to yell at you, but it was for the best that you left. You brought out sides of me I didn't know existed. But I just…I don't know anymore if all those sides were good."

Diana jumped as she heard vines snapping. When she looked back to Akko, her eyes were wide and desperate. "L-look, take Andrew and _go!_ I can…I can handle this! Get as far away as you can!"

The panther roared out, snapping the vine around its snout. "N-no! No one's leaving! You can't…you can't get away!"

"We don't have time to argue about this!" Diana pleaded. "Get out! Go!"

"No one's leaving!" The vine around its legs snapped, and Darío quickly pushed himself to his feet. "No one is taking anything from me!"

Akko pushed herself to her feet with a small grunt. "Darío, hang on a sec, okay?"

The panther reared back. "Don't talk down to me! No one's going to talk down to me again!" Its legs kicked off the mud and it charged, roaring like an animal. It was fast, incredibly so. It barely gave Akko enough time to quickly say what she wanted to say.

"I just wanna ask about your ruins!"

She was pleasantly surprised when the panther skidded to a halt, with its open snout within biting distance of her outstretched hand. She breathed a quick, quiet sigh of relief. If she was honest, she had been scared that wasn't going to work.

* * *

A.N. I really just wanna say thanks again for all the support, both here and on my tumblr. It does seriously help, if you can believe it. This was finished last night, but for whatever reason, FF wouldn't let me submit the document. Not sure why?

One thing that made this fic harder than others I wrote was a lot of…experimentation with a lot of little things. Like this one was experimenting in the voice of the narration, because when you put characters into situations where they can't think, then, well. They can't think.

Anyway, with any luck next chapter might be the end. We shall see though.


	8. Final Departures

It was funny, almost.

Akko could still feel something nipping at the back of her head. Like a voice egging her on and telling her she needed to go back to the ruins and to separate herself from everyone. She couldn't deny how much the thought scared her any longer. But with everything happening to Diana, and the idea that somewhere in this wild animal was the nice doctor who greeted them on the airstrip, she didn't have much choice but to swallow her fear.

The curse was still at work, and she was still afraid. She was still so very afraid. Even if the curse wasn't there, all the ideas it planted in her head were. But she had accepted them, partially out of the heat of the moment and partially because it was something she had dealt with before, and now she was standing in front of the same wild animal that savaged her arm. And even with the fear still _there_ , the exact same as it ever was, it felt like a part of her, as opposed to everything, like it had been.

"Is…is it actually _you_ in there?" Akko asked the creature quietly. " _You're_ the one who…?"

"What do you want?" The panther glared. "What more do you people _want_ from me? How much more am I supposed to take from you?"

Akko swallowed as its voice rumbled in a low growl. "…I just don't want you to hurt them." She admitted. "And…I just wanna know why. Because this whole trip has been one crazy thing after another, and I just want to know why it's all happening."

"Because you're going to take them!" Darío snapped. "That's what they all want! Turn my ruins into a tourist attraction! Into some academic paper! Steal them away when _we_ found them!"

Diana, whose eyes had been boring into the back of Akko's head ever since she stepped up to face Darío, stepped over to Akko's side. "I…I was never going to _take_ them. I just wanted to study them. Use them for my-"

An animalistic growl burst from Darío's throat. "Using them! Using my things! My legacy! All to further yourself, when you already _had_ so much!"

Diana's arm snapped in front of Akko, a barrier between her and the panther. There was a flash in Darío's eyes, as if he saw it as a challenge. He was still right on the edge.

Akko glanced down at the arm in front of her torso, at how much it was shaking, and almost wanted to chuckle. Instead of hiding behind it, she simply took Diana's hand and lowered it to in between their sides, holding it there with a reassuring squeezed.

"Akko." Diana hissed. "What do you think you're-?"

"…I think I get it." Akko decided, smiling at the incredulous panther. "What you're saying, I mean."

"You _get_ it?" Darío's eyes narrowed. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

Akko shrugged. "I mean, what you wanted was kinda like my dream too! Someone made _me_ happy when I was a kid, and I wanted to be just like her. I wanted to make other people smile and inspire them, like she did for me. And I still _want_ to do that stuff, and I want to bring everyone that happiness."

She glanced over her shoulder, where Andrew was still passed out, and breathing heavily, and pursed her lips. "But the thing is, I see some of what my friends are doing, how they're gonna be big heads of state or cool people in charge of all these important things, and it just… you see all these people, who do all these big stuff, and it makes your dream seem really small sometimes."

Diana shot her a look at that. Darío was unmoved. But he also wasn't trying to attack anyone. So Akko kept going all the same.

"…I don't think I'm a very good witch, or a really smart person or anything super fancy. I don't…actually know where I belong really. So I felt like I didn't really have anything going for me, and when I saw all these amazing things everyone _else_ was doing, it just made me feel sorta worse."

"What does that have to do with _me?_ "

"I guess I dunno why you decided to do this, but I kinda get getting really mad and wanting to break something. I…I almost tried to destroy the ruins all by myself."

The panther's eyes widened. "What do you mean… _destroy_ my ruins?" He panicked. "Did you? A-are they still there? Have they-?"

"I didn't do it!" Akko said quickly. "They're still there! But…when you and Diana were always talking about how big and fancy they were, and how important they are, and I guess I got…scared. Like I was gonna get left behind. I was gonna try and hit the things with lightning, because I thought if I broke them…well, I dunno what I really thought."

Akko gave Diana's hand one more squeeze, before stepping forward and reaching out. Darío flinched away. "W-what are you-?"

Akko laid her hand atop the panther's head. "I guess what stopped me is…I decided I don't really care." She smiled to herself. "I mean, I _do_ care. About Diana and Andrew and everything they wanna do. Maybe they'll do way more important stuff than I'll ever do, but…I think that's okay, in the end. Like I said, I wanted to bring people happiness. If I went and blew everything up, just to prove something, then I think I'd just end up hurting people."

Darío blinked, before shaking her hand off his head. "…That's…that's naïve." He decided. "Yeah, I want to honor my grandfather's legacy, and yeah, I didn't want to hurt anyone either. But those are mine. They're all I have left of him. And I'm just supposed to roll over and…what, just let someone take them? Because of some childish sentiment?"

"But you're trying to hurt people."

Darío bristled. "I'm protecting what I love!" He argued. "How is that wrong? How is that not justified?"

"But I mean, that's what I'm saying!" Akko said. "I think I am, at least. That's why I was gonna go breaking everything, because I _thought_ I was gonna be protecting my friends. But when I talked to the old woman up there, I think I realized I was just…kinda doing it for myself. I wasn't actually helping anyone."

Diana wriggled her hand out of Akko's grasp, leveling her with a serious look. "What old woman? You say her too?"

"Too?" Darío's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean too? She was talking to…to you two?"

Diana's brows furrowed. "And…and Andrew. He said he learned about the curse from some local woman, the night you were…Was that the same woman? What did she look like, Akko?"

Akko shrugged. "I dunno…her skin was kinda dark. She had long grey hair. Really wrinkly."

They turned when they heard a small incarnation being muttered under someone's breath. Where the panther once stood was Darío Santillo, back in his human form. His expression was dejected. Confused.

"You…all saw her? The same…?" He ran a hand through his hair. "But…but no. That doesn't…she was the one who convinced me to...She was _here_. She told me if I let you all go…that…that you would…"

And now Akko was the one who was confused. "Wait, she was here with _you?_ When? She was up on the ruins with me!"

Diana crossed her arms. "No, I saw her too. She was out in the yard. But..."She turned to Darío, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "I never saw her talking to you."

"No…no she was on my porch. I saw her there. She…she was trying to help me. How could you have seen her? She…she was supposed to help me."

Diana pursed her lips. "She said she wanted to help me as well, when I met her in town. But when she was talking to me out in the yard, she was…"

"Aggressive?" Darío finished. "She seemed…so much more...in control, when I saw her here. But…this still doesn't make any sense. How could she be in so many places at once? How could she…?"

"…Perhaps…" Diana tapped her chin. "She's related to the curse in some way…"

"There's no curse." Darío said. "That's…that's just a rumor. And what would that even have to do with that old woman?"

"There must be _something_." Diana argued. "She was playing us. I have no idea why, but…whatever she…it was…it was clearly trying to manipulate all of us. Something must be at work here. She couldn't be in multiple places at once, and she couldn't know the things she knew if she was just the old woman she appeared to be…"

Darío was silent, weighing the words. "…Say…say it _is_ cursed. If it's like any other curse, then it's more powerful the closer you are to its center. She goaded you two back here. She kept Akko from breaking them. And once told me I had to stay here and protect this place."

Diana nodded. "She told us exactly what we didn't want to hear so we'd come running back and get ourselves…" She pursed her lips. "But…but why? What does she gain?"

"The shrine _is_ dedicated to an ancient witch. Maybe it was her, in another life and she simply wanted to keep her home protected. She had it sealed away in that shell, and it when it was breached, she manipulated everyone and everything to keep it preserved. Just like…like I wanted…to…"

Akko couldn't keep up with the conversation fully, not as their speculation got more and more specific. But eventually, she heard a groan from behind her, and quietly slipped away, back to the destroyed car, where Andrew was struggling to push himself upward.

"Ow…" He moaned. "What happened…?"

Akko bent down. "Andrew? Are you okay?"

He blinked at her. Once, and then again. "Akko? Where did you come from? What's going on?" His eyes flicked behind her, and widened quite a bit when he saw Darío and Diana talking to each other. "…Okay…? No seriously, what's…what's going on?"

Akko shrugged, and a small giggle escaped her throat. "Y-yeah, I have _no_ clue! But I guess those two are the experts, so…!"

Andrew let out a series of exasperated stutters, before rubbing his forehead. "…Is everyone okay here?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"You and Diana get bit again?"

"No."

"And we're sure I'm not dead?"

"Yep."

Andrew threw up his hands. "Then I guess that's all the answers I need right now." He looked down at himself. "I need a shower. Figures the rain starts letting up _now_. What are they talking about?"

"I…have no idea." Akko admitted. "I think they're trying to figure this curse thing out."

Gradually, Darío seemed to become more and more receptive to the idea that the ruins might've been cursed. Akko didn't catch all of it, but she knew enough to recognize the dawning horror in his voice.

"But if…if she _was_ some manifestation of this curse…then why wouldn't it affect…?"

Diana tilted her head as he trailed off. "Affect who? Because it clearly affected everyone here tonight.

Darío let out a shaky breath. "Oh my god…I…I always wondered why he built his house so far out, after he found the ruins. I thought…I thought he was just enamored but…"

Akko stood up straighter. "Wait, your grandfather?"

"It all makes sense…" He wrung his hands through his hair, his face stitched with sudden guilt. "Why he moved out so far, why he was always sinking into his research…he didn't want to…like I did…he…oh my god. He didn't want to hurt anyone. He didn't want to…Oh my god. What did I do? Your arm, a-and the…what did I…? I…it was all supposed to be for him. It was supposed to protect them, but…oh my god."

Akko reached out. "I mean…it's okay! It was a curse, right? It's not like it was _all_ you…right? Isn't that…?"

"No…" He moaned, his voice growing emptier and emptier. "It's _not_ how it works. It…something like this…this curse, it unleashed some of my innermost desires, but…they were already in there. That may have been me at my worst, but…it was still me. I was…I was about to…"

The man fell to his knees, hiding his face from the world in his hands. "I was going to do that…for nothing. For nothing! He never would've wanted this! He…he never…"

Akko and Diana shared a look. Diana was pensive, unsure how she should feel for Darío after everything that happened. But as little as Akko understood about the curse, she wasn't lying when she told him she understood what he had been going through.

Darío looked up from his hands, his face cold and stony. "…You were right, Akko. You had the right idea."

Akko blinked. "I…I was? What does that mean? Why was I…?"

Darío said only one word. "Lightning."

"But…" Akko looked up to the sky. "But the storm's over. There's not even much _rain_. How are you going to-?"

Darío stood to his feet, filled with purpose. "There are spells. There are always spells. I have to protect my family's legacy. And I can't…there's only one way to do it. I have to get rid of these myself."

Diana crossed her arms. "That's a risky plan, especially trying to pull a stunt like that this soon after a real storm."

"I know that." He snapped. "I have a doctorate in these types of magic. I've studied spells like that for years."

"Then…you do know that calling down any significant amount of lightning from this kind of weather, especially when you don't seem to have an actual wand to provide kickback…"

Diana trailed off, but her warning was clear. Darío was quiet for a moment.

"…Then call the police, and tell them to bring an ambulance." He paused for a moment, choking on his words. "Tell them…I'm sorry. I know it doesn't mean anything but…I'm _so_ sorry."

Pinching his eyes closed, he ran into the forest, towards the ruins one final time.

Akko started after him, only for Andrew to grab her shoulder. Akko could only stare at his hand in disbelief. "We can't just let him-!"

"He wants to redeem himself." Andrew said firmly. "And having you get caught in the crossfire would only make things worse. Let him do what he needs to."

"But Andrew! We…I…I can't just-!"

Before she could finish her sentence, she found herself startled once more by the crack of thunder. Only this time, it hardly sounded natural. It was a much more artificial and electric sounding boom.

A lightning strike screamed down from the heavens, and Akko ducked as shrapnel propelled itself all the way towards the house. But all the sound she might've heard was drowned out by the sound of an explosion from the clearing.

Her ears were ringing, and she couldn't even hear Diana talk into Andrew's phone. But she could see the black smoke rising from the trees into the cloudy night sky.

The ruins were gone. Whatever that old lady was, she was gone too.

Diana hung up the phone, turning to her friends with a solemn expression. "They're on their way."

And they all could only watch as Darío staggered from the bushes. None of them dared get close. Not when his very body was trailing smoke. Akko strained to make out his words from across the yard.

"…this is…what he…w-wan…"

As Darío collapsed, Akko noticed a single smoldering piece of the stone mural embedded itself in the grass, only a few meters away from her feet. Akko took a slow step over to inspect the image, of a witch and a panther.

And a large crack went through the rock, splitting the two forever.

* * *

One hour after it all went down, the Santillo property was filled with police cars and emergency response vehicles. Darío Santillo was quickly wheeled away by the first responders. He was covered with burns, and plenty of cuts from shrapnel, but he was alive. From what little he was able to speak, he confessed everything to the police. Everything he did and he planned to do.

It was pretty clear to Diana the police were almost unable to believe it. She had just given them her own statement. One of the sergeants, an indigenous woman who had served as the magical expert on the force for ten years, had just stared at her as she gave her statement.

She supposed she should just be grateful it stopped raining.

Diana pulled the police blanket tighter around herself, and trudged over to where Andrew and Akko were sitting, on the back bumper of an open police van. She didn't hear what the two of them were talking about. As soon as she approached, they both stopped.

A shy smile snuck up Akko's cheeks. They had barely even caught wind of each other since the explosion. This was the first calm moment they had together since before the bite. Diana wasn't sure if she wanted to keep her face neutral or not.

Akko adjusted the blanket around her own shoulders. "Hey."

"…Hey yourself."

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Akko asked. "I mean…that seemed like a bad explosion. That could've been _me_ up there. I hope they'll be able to help him. I don't think he was super evil."

Diana thought over her response for almost an entire minute. "…I think he'll live. But after what he confessed…I doubt he'll be a free man for a while, all things considered."

Akko made a pensive hum. Placated, if not incredibly reassured. How she could be so empathetic in even the worst situations, Diana could not imagine.

Akko scratched the side of her head with her free hand. "S-so um…this whole thing was…darker than I thought."

"Yes." Diana nodded, taking her seat next to her on the van. "…I think…I would've preferred your idea. A nice…vacation in town."

Andrew chuckled from Akko's other side. "Oh, yeah. Imagine that. Going to the beach, taking pictures, trying exotic drinks…wouldn't _that_ have been the dream."

Akko shifted on the bumper, before looking up to Diana with a small bite of her lip. "…And…earlier, you said…I brought out parts of you that you didn't like."

Diana sighed, long and heavy. "Well…I'd…I'd _like_ to say it was just fear talking but…" She winced as she spoke. "…I don't believe it came out of nowhere. Some of those thoughts were much more self-destructive than I usually want to be, but…"

It was just like Santillo said. The thoughts were all already there. She didn't want to have this conversation. She really didn't.

Because once all the cards were on the table, that would be it. She couldn't admit everything and expect her relationship to stay intact. She couldn't admit to being afraid of the person she could become around Akko and then act like they could still be girlfriends once the conversation ended.

It was desperate bid, disguised as an innocent comment. "I didn't realize you felt so worried about all of that either." Diana mused. "About being…small, I suppose."

"I usually don't." Akko shrugged. "But…after a while of…I dunno, being in your life, I guess I just started to notice it more. And then with everything that happened, it started to get to me and I…sort of freak out then."

Something churned in the pit of Diana's stomach. She breathed, in and out. "So just…being in my life...brought out that side of you. That's what I was saying before. How not every part of myself when I'm with you is…good."

Akko seemed to catch the implication in her tone, from the way her shoulders drooped. "So…what are you saying then…?"

She knew. And she didn't want Diana to say it. And Diana didn't want to say it either. But she was not someone who could allow herself to lose control to her emotions, even if she _did_ want.

"I'm saying…" Diana started, looking everywhere but at Akko. "…that we both ended up being…afraid of hurting the other. And that's…that's not right. You aren't supposed to be able to hurt the ones you love. So we…we should think about…"

Andrew suddenly sat up.

"Now hang on. That's not true."

Diana's brows furrowed. "How is what I said, untrue? Look at all the fear this whole thing caused. That has nothing to do with-"

"It has everything do with it." Andrew said. "I mean, yeah there's a point where it becomes unhealthy, but love and fear have _everything_ to do with each other. Look what happened _here._ "

He gestured out to the police vehicles, before finally pointing to where the smoke still rose from the smoldering ruins. "The doctor did what he did because he loved his grandfather and wanted to protect his legacy. The old woman pulled all of this because she loved her homeland. I was worried sick when Akko stormed out, and when I saw how badly this was hurting you, I…I can't even really describe it. I felt awful. I felt awful at seeing you two be torn apart like this."

"So…what?" Diana crossed her arms. "You were worried, so that justifies everything that happened? How does that make sense?"

"Because if the old Andrew Hanbridge went on this trip, he would've been scared. He didn't care enough. There was nothing in his life that he valued so much that the thought of losing that terrified him. That's what you two are to me. You two can terrify the hell out of me, because you matter enough to do it."

Diana shook her head. "That doesn't sound like love. At least, that doesn't sound like what love should be. There's…there's a vulnerability with it, yes, but…there shouldn't be a _terror_ with it."

"Yeah, there's a line, but this isn't it." Andrew stated. "If you wanna move on, that's up to you. But don't do it because of this. Because even if you _do_ move on from each other, the next person you get with can still break your heart with a sentence. And you're always going to be terrified of that. You're in the exact same situation, except you both decided to be miserable for some self-sacrificing nonsense."

"But is that _love?_ "

"It's life. And it's terrifying, and it brings out the worst parts of you, and it's always going to do it. Maybe you are terrified of how the people you love change you, but if they couldn't and you aren't…then it's hard to say you ever truly cared at all."

Diana didn't know if she could respond to that. So she remained silent, feeling like her emotions were trying to drown her again.

Akko ran her hand through her hair. "...Diana…you said not all of those parts were good…but some of them were, right?"

"…Y-yes. There were so many good points. And…a-and all I wanted to _do_ was to do right and live up to that. You brought out a different person in me, and all I ever wanted was to be that _same_ person all the time. But…b-but I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because….because you were so worried this entire time about whether or not I even cared, and I was terrified, _terrified_ , that I could never be the person you deserve, and I'm not…I'm not strong enough to always be there a-and handle everything and anything all at once. I felt safe being vulnerable with you, but I don't want to be a vulnerable person. I _want_ to be with you. But I…I don't know if what I want is really what's best."

Most of the words spilled from her before she had a chance to stop them.

But Akko still seemed to think each and every one of them over. They were all true, even the parts she might've wished weren't. She wouldn't lie to her. She loved her, so much. Enough to break her heart with the honest truth.

Perhaps she shouldn't have been surprised, when Akko once again defied her expectations. "…Diana, I…I still really wanna be with you too." Akko admitted. "Like, okay, I get it. All things considered, I'm probably an annoying loser compared to you because the only thing I ever really could've done to support you this entire time was just to zip it and let you actually work, but I still _like_ you and I still wanna date you even though I'm annoying loser and you're this big shot who maybe doesn't totally like anyone helping her ever."

Diana parted her lips to respond. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she had to justify and apologize for.

Too much.

More than she could ever.

Her throat felt empty, and her head dizzy. "I…I…understand." It was all she could manage.

"So I mean…even if it's not...the best, can we still just…?"

As Akko reached out to hug her, Diana's heart pounded in her chest. Her instincts told her to go one way. To pull back, remain calm, and let that be that.

But instead, she let Akko pull her inwards. And still unable to tell her everything she needed, she _wanted_ to tell her, Diana laid her face on her girlfriend's shoulder.

She heaved, and let herself sob.

* * *

It took most of the next day before the police decided they didn't need any more statements. Darío had told them everything, told them he was responsible for all of it, and that seemed to speed up the process significantly, but they still needed clarification before they were finally allowed to leave.

And ultimately, that was all they wanted to do. To get back home. And after all the rainstorms and heart-clenching terror, Akko couldn't help but sink back into the plush seat of the Hanbridge's private jet. She couldn't wait to get flying out of here.

Akko found herself flexing her fingers. She finally got her bandages and sling off, and right now her hand felt like static. But her skin was free of any bite marks, and she was pretty sure it'd be back to normal by the time they landed back in England.

On her other shoulder was Diana's head. After everything that happened, she was completely burned out. Physically and emotionally. She had been practically clinging to Akko's side ever since. They still weren't totally sure what all of it meant for them. For both of them.

But Akko decided to play with Diana's hair. And Diana, it seemed, was deciding to let her. Diana let out a breath, and all but melted in her seat. Too tired to really smile, but as much as Akko wanted to make her, she was simply glad Diana felt safe where she was.

"It helps me get the feeling back in my fingers." Akko said to her, for no real reason.

Diana tried not shift her head. "Is it feeling better?"

"My arm? Almost good as new." She twisted one strand of blonde hair around another. "I'm almost done."

Andrew walked into the cabin to take his seat, but paused to watch what Akko was doing. "That might be the most…unsightly braid I've ever seen." He mused to Diana. "But somehow…it suits you."

It took Diana a moment to find a reaction, but eventually she snorted, with a subdued smile. "…I'm genuinely amazed, Andrew. You managed to insult two people simultaneously with one compliment."

Andrew shrugged, a grin inching up his cheeks. "I do try."

Akko giggled. "Well, maybe you don't have a good paper to write, but at least you got a good adventurous look!"

Diana draped the braid over her shoulder, playing with it in her hands. "…you are something else, Akko. I honestly can't believe you."

"I know, right? Your hair's really thick and wavy, but I _still_ made it work!"

"Ah. Yes. _That's_ what I was talking about." Diana rested her head back down on Akko's shoulder, settling in as comfortably as she could. "Don't worry about my paper. I had a few backup topics prepared. I'm sure I can still get it done in time."

"But, you know. Tomorrow. We all gotta go out to eat after this! You guys gotta treat me, because I'm broke."

Andrew chuckled. "Well, when you put it like _that_...anywhere particular you two want to go?"

Diana shrugged absently. "It doesn't matter to me. I've barely eaten this entire trip."

Akko agreed. "Yeah. Anywhere's fine, as long as you two are okay with it. As long as you two have a little fun, so we can say we had a good vacation. And as for me, I'm just hungry. I haven't had a bite in three days."

The cabin was silent for a moment.

Diana covered her face with her hand, trying to stifle a laugh. "Y-you are the _worst_. The absolute worst."

Andrew doubled over, and pretty soon Akko joined the two of them, because frankly they all needed a laugh, and she was always willing to bring someone a smile if she could.

A few minutes later, once the plane finally lurched forward and took the air, they all felt much more confident in saying the entire adventure was behind them, and the cabin settled in a cozy silence.

Eventually Bruce, the Hanbridge's butler, to come in and check on his charges. Bruce eyed the two of them, arching a brow at Diana draped over Akko's shoulder.

"I see you two have made yourselves comfortable."

Diana shifted, sinking her head into the sleeve of Akko's jacket. "She _is_ my girlfriend. I'm lucky to have her."

Akko beamed, ear to ear.

Bruce nodded, before checking in on Andrew, who simply decided to distract himself with some paperwork until they landed back at the Hanbridge estate. And with that, Bruce returned to the cockpit.

After another quiet minute, Akko felt Diana shift again. "…I…you don't…mind if I sleep, do you?" Diana asked. "I'm not…a fan on flying on airplanes…but I can sit up if you need to-"

Akko shook her head. "Nah, it's fine. But you don't mind if I read _this_ thing, do you?"

"Is that… _my_ book?"

"Yeah." Akko shrugged. "You always seemed to like this one, so I was just curious what it was about. You don't mind, do you?"

"…No." Diana decided at last, closing her eyes. "I suppose it's fine. It was one of my favorites."

With nothing better to do during the long flight home, Akko cracked open the book. It was a romance novel, describing the forbidden love between wealthy socialite Alice Kennedy and roughly cut photographer Derick Carlson. It was a perfect, idealized love, only troubled by outside forces trying to tear their perfect bond apart. It was cute, as far as fantasy went.

Bruce made a few more stops on the way back, periodically checking in if Andrew or his special guests needed something. Diana slept most of the way back, and it didn't take Andrew long either. Akko only got so far into the book before her eyes started to wander around the cabin.

It was hard to believe she was ever uncomfortable in this plane. The seats were still a bit too plush, and the butler thing was still weird. It was probably always going to be one of those weird things. It was just how Akko was, when it came to the world Diana and Andrew came from.

She wondered what Mr. Hanbridge would say when he heard about all this. Or what Anna or Daryl might say. Maybe it would change their tunes when it came to Akko.

It didn't _need_ to. It might've been nice, but she didn't need it. Whatever happened, Andrew was here with his two best friends. And Diana was with her, by her side from now until who knows when. Diana moaned in her sleep, and Akko took care not to move her shoulder too much.

It wasn't particularly easy to stay that still, but she tried. She might've imagined something different, but hey.

Diana was here, so it was home.

* * *

 _A.N. There was something of a reoccurring theme here of "right for the wrong reasons" which is why Akko couldn't be the one to do the deed of destroying the ruins. Eventually, they all had to embrace the thing that scared them the most, so naturally Darío had to be the one to do it for it to really feel justified._

 _I tried to sprinkle a few hints here and there that the old woman wasn't human, but some of them got lost in the hiatus. Like the antique shop having a bell that rung when Diana entered, but didn't when the woman left. And Andrew referring to her as an "it" in her first appearance. What she actually was meant to be was a manifestation of fear itself. She was the head witch described in Diana's paper from the other chapter. It was always mentioned the ruins put the thoughts in your head, and let you simmer in them, but if you were to run away, they needed a way to bring you back and really do you in._

 _And as for everything else? I dunno! A lighter, more ambiguous ending, but it felt right in this case, considering what it dealt with. I'm glad so many of you enjoyed this, and I'm glad you were patient with the whole sudden shift from fluff to angst and then the hiatus and everything. Always feels good to finish a story, and I hope it was worth it in the end!_


End file.
